Ranger Scrolls
by KJ
Summary: Chapter 24: Can the rangers save Kat before the evil consumes her or is it too late for the pink ranger?
1. A New Ranger

**Disclaimer:** Everything from the known Power Rangers universe belongs to Saban. All the other characters unless otherwise noted, including Carri Hillard, belong to me and cannot be used without my permission.  
**Author's Notes:** I have decided to do rewrites on the entire Ranger Scrolls series and post them under the title "Ranger Scrolls" as there was a lot about the originals that I was unhappy with. I copied over the original version of "A New Ranger" on fanfiction net and renamed it. I plan on eventually rewriting most of the series and posting it as one story. As the rewrites come up, the older versions (if the fic was posted here already) will disappear off of this site. The more recent fics in the series won't get as dramatic overhauls but they will get edited and added to the fic.  
Essentially what I am doing for the rewrites is keeping the same scenes and the same feel as the original (condensing some and adding some in places) but cleaning it up, making it better. To me some of the early fics needed a little help, and I thought I might as well give it to them. My writing has changed in the last twelve years and I thought I'd reflect that in the first fics I ever wrote. It also gives me an opportunity to correct a few little things in the storyline (for example Kim doesn't write Tommy the letter until after the first four or so original Ranger Scrolls fics, however some of them make it sound like they're together while some don't) and also tie in some of the things that are mentioned in the later stories but never referenced in the first fics (like Ashley and Carri sharing a gym class). I won't be giving dates for the chapters as my main focus is still the brand new fics. However I plan to get several of the rewrites done this summer after Legacy comes to a close.  
Just a few storyline notes for those of you reading the Scrolls for the first time. The first dozen or so chapters fall in line with the rangers senior year and most of the happenings in the actual Zeo storyline. Which means that for the most part (with Tanya being the obvious exception) everything that happened in Zeo happens here. Kim does write the letter, Tommy does by the end of the school year date Kat (although this is not a Tommy/Kat story, it does hint throughout that Tommy still cares about Kim and eventually a few months after Kat breaks up with him he does get back with Kim), and so on.  
If you've read the original, you'll have to let me know what you think of the new version. If you haven't read the original story, or if you've read Legacy but not Ranger Scrolls, this is where the character of Carri Hillard begins. I hope you all enjoy it.

Ranger Scrolls  
"A New Ranger"

Carri Hillard walked into the bedroom of her aunt and uncle's house that would now be hers, dragging everything she owned in several pieces of luggage behind her. It had been a long day and a long flight, and now she was ready to crash in bed. She took a few moments to look around the room and she smiled. "This room looks amazing." She said turning toward her cousin.

Katherine Hillard smiled and nodded her head toward the brunette standing in front of her. "Why thank you." She replied grinning. "You did say you were coming to live with us so I thought I'd give it a few personal touches."

Carri smiled and sighed, collapsing on the bed. "I can't believe I'm starting my senior year at Angel Grove High tomorrow." She said. She had begged and pleaded with her parents to let her go back to California and finally she got her wish. "It sucks for Josh. He had to graduate from Westside County High." She said absentmindedly.

"Oh well." Kat said as she shrugged. Carri's brother wasn't as adamant about going back to California and was probably happy to graduate from school in New York. "We're glad to have you here."

"Yeah and I'm sure you're going to get along with everyone." Tanya Sloan chimed in from the back. "And it helps that you know your way around."

"I know that's right." Carri said with a smile as she turned over and looked at the alarm clock. "I think it's time for me to get some sleep. It's eleven thirty here and I'm still on east coast time. Tomorrow is the first day of our senior year and I want to look my best."

"Alright. Goodnight." Kat said giving her cousin a smile.

"Goodnight." Tanya added.

"Goodnight." Carri replied as she got up and shut the door behind them. She crawled into bed and slowly dozed off, wondering what her first day at Angel Grove High School would be like.

* * *

Kat crossed her arms the next morning as she walked up to her cousin's door and pounded against it. "Come on Carri we gotta go." She said with a sigh. It was their first day and already her cousin was going to make them late.

"Alright alright." Carri said grumpily as she rolled out of bed. She was dead tired from the day before but found herself quickly having to perk up. She jumped in the shower for a few minutes then got out and threw on the first clothes she came to. She was disappointed that she didn't have time to properly pick out her wardrobe, but she couldn't worry about that as she tossed her wet hair messily back in a clip before emerging from the room.

Quickly she headed downstairs and out the door so that she could walk to school with Kat and Tanya. "Sorry." She apologized as the duo looked at her then started walking.

"It's ok." Kat said. It was after all her first day and she had spent the entire previous day traveling. "Since we don't have any time before school, I'll introduce you to everyone at lunch." She said quickly changing topics.

Carri shook her head no. "Lunch is bad. I have to go see Mr. Caplan. He wants to see who the new Hillard in school is."

Kat chuckled. "He probably just wants to make sure it's not Josh repeating his senior year for a second time."

Carri couldn't help but laugh at Kat's dig on her brother. He had been a good kid, but in his brief time at Angel Grove High he had managed to agitate Mr. Caplan quite a few times.

"I give." Tanya said looking the two girls over. "Who's this Josh character you keep talking about?"

"My older brother." Carri replied flashing her a smile as Tanya nodded in acknowledgment.

"Anyway how about we met at the Youth Center after school and I'll introduce you there." Kat suggested.

"The Youth Center." Carri said wistfully. "How long has it been since I've been there?"

The question was rhetorical but Kat answered it anyway. "Since the last time Josh and his friends kicked you out." She joked.

Carri laughed. Her brother used to say that he couldn't be seen with his younger sister at the Youth Center. Of course she didn't listen to him. "True." She said with a smile. "I'll definitely be there. I'm dying to meet your friends."

"Sounds good." Kat said as a wave of silence fell over the group.

The girls were deep in their own thoughts as they made their way toward the high school. They approached the building and Kat looked at them and smiled. "Here we are." She announced although the other two girls were quite aware of that already. "I'll see you later?"

Tanya and Carri both had words of agreement as each girl said goodbye and headed toward their first class.

* * *

Carri leaned against her hand, her eyes drifting closed as her first period class came to an end. New York or California, some things about school never changed.

Just as her eyes started to shut the bell rang, signaling the end of her first period. She jolted up and threw her stuff in her backpack, heading out into the hallway and toward her next class. She arrived just as the minute bell rang and scooted into the only seat she could find.

As she started to pull out her books she felt a tap on her shoulder. "Yes?" She questioned as she turned around to face the two boys grinning goofily at her.

"I'm Skull and this here is Bulk." Skull introduced themselves quickly. Bulk said hello before Skull continued. "And you are?"

"Carri." She replied flashing the duo a smile. There was something weird about them but it didn't matter, she was just glad that someone had introduced themselves to her.

Skull crossed his arms and studied her for a moment. "You know, you look awfully familiar."

Carri rolled her eyes and turned back to the blank notebook in front of her. "Is that some kind of pick up line?" She asked with a sigh. She was more than used to getting hit on and she had heard them all before.

"No I'm serious." Skull said as he continued thinking. "Wait you're Carri Hillard aren't you?"

She turned back and looked at them curiously. "How did you know that?"

"You were in that movie. Bulkie what was it called?" Skull asked stretching to think of the name of it.

"Revenge." Bulk replied with a smile. It happened to be one of the duo's favorite movies and they'd seen it a thousand times.

"Yeah Revenge." Skull chimed in.

She raised an eyebrow and looked at the both of them. "How did you know that was me? I was only in there long enough to get shot. They didn't even show my face."

"If you pause it at the right spot we can see you. Then all we had to do is look at the credits." Skull said as he crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, quite satisfied with himself.

"Can we not talk about that. I hate the movie business. I only did the role because my dad wanted me too." Carri said as she crossed her arms as well.

"Your dad's that producer guy, Jonathan, right?" Skull questioned.

"Yes." She snapped glaring at them. "Now if you don't mind I'd like to put everything about my dad, New York and his production business behind me so I can concentrate on California and everything I've missed out on."

"Sorry. We won't mention it again." Skull promised.

"Thank you." Carri said as she turned back toward the front of the room.

* * *

Across the room a certain male couldn't help but notice the woman who had walked in and sat down, and was currently being hassled by Bulk and Skull. "Do you know who she is?" Rocky DeSantos questioned as he turned to look at his friend.

Tommy Oliver took a look over at the girl in question. "Nope." He said chuckling as he watched her conversation. He didn't know what was being said but she had just crossed her arms and was glaring at Bulk and Skull. "I do know she just set the record for fastest newcomer to be aggravated by Bulk and Skull."

"That's not helpful." Rocky said as he watched her. "I've got to go introduce myself."

As he started to stand the final bell went off. "That's going to have to wait." Tommy pointed out.

Rocky sighed as he sat and the class began. He was having trouble concentrating as he couldn't help but continue to stare over at the girl in question.

* * *

The morning flew by as Carri was so happy to be back in Angel Grove she wasn't concerned with much else. Her fourth period gym class ended and she walked out with a junior who had hung out with her in class. The girl was the captain of the cheerleading team and had quickly befriended Carri. It was nice, things back home seemed to already be falling into place.

She said goodbye to the girl and broke off looking for Kat. Finally she saw her and the duo met up and headed to English class together. Once again Carri found herself later than everyone else as there was only two seats left when they entered.

"I hate this." Carri grumbled. She was excited to finally get to sit next to someone she knew, but with one seat in the front and one in the back she knew that wasn't going to happen.

"Which one do you want?" Kat asked.

"The back." Carri replied giving her a sly grin. "You're the one who gets along with teachers the best so you can sit up front."

"Thanks." Kat said sarcastically rolling her eyes.

Carri smiled at her as she went and took her seat in the back and Kat headed up front, both waiting for class to begin.

* * *

Rocky sat in his English class tapping his pen against his desk as he saw the girl from that morning come in and sit two rows away from him.

"What are you looking at?" Adam Park asked, noticing that his best friend's attention was definitely elsewhere.

"Her." Rocky said as he pointed over to where she was sitting.

Tommy looked up and quickly realized that it was the same girl from history. He smiled to himself, amused by the fact that Rocky had the hots for this girl. He had to admit she was good looking, although he was happily with Kim and nothing was going to change that.

"You going to go talk to her?" Adam asked. He had never known Rocky to back down from anyone before and he doubted he would now.

"During lunch." Rocky replied. All the seniors ate together and he figured that would be the perfect time to talk to her.

* * *

As soon as the bell rang Rocky collected his things and headed for the cafeteria. He spent the better part of his lunch search for the girl from class but couldn't find her anywhere. Finally he gave up and headed over to sit with Adam, looking rather depressed.

"Come on let's go." He said with a sigh.

"Struck out didn't you?" Adam joked.

Rocky glared at him. "No." He quickly defended himself. "I couldn't find her anywhere."

Adam shrugged. "Well eventually you'll talk to her."

"Yeah. I suppose you're right." Rocky replied although he wasn't sure he could wait much longer.

"Come on, let's go." Adam said prepared to drag his friend out of the cafeteria to try and get his mind off of his mystery girl.

* * *

Carri went through her lunch period and math class, still in the same good mood even though Bulk and Skull had sat next to her in math. As she walked into her seventh period chemistry class she saw Kat. Quickly she headed in and nabbed the seat next to her.

"Hey." she said with a smile, grateful that she finally got to sit next to Kat in a class.

"Hey." Kat greeted flashing her a smile back.

"Front row?" Carri questioned raising an eyebrow.

Kat shrugged. "That was all that was left. I wanted to try to get some near my friends but they were all taken."

"It's ok. I'll meet them soon enough. I just have to make it through chem class." She said with a sigh. Chemistry was not her favorite subject and she wasn't looking forward to it.

"You're going to like chemistry." Kat assured her. "Miss Appleby is really nice."

"You've had her before?" Carri questioned.

Kat nodded. "Pre-calculus last year. She has degrees in three subjects." She explained.

Carri shrugged and replied with an "oh" as she sat back in her seat and waited for class to start.

* * *

"Hey isn't that your girl over there talking to Kat?" Tommy asked as he nudged Rocky's shoulder and pointed toward her.

Rocky smiled as he caught a glimpse of her. "Yeah it is."

"She looks like she's friends with Kat. Maybe you can get her to introduce you." Tommy suggested.

"Yeah. I will." Rocky replied, smiling as he sat back in his seat.

* * *

The final bell rang and Kat and Carri jumped up. "I'll see you at the Youth Center. I need to go talk to Miss Appleby." Kat said.

"Sounds good." Carri replied as she gathered her things and exited the room.

Before Kat could get a chance to go talk to her teacher Rocky came up behind her. "Hey I have a question for you." He said as he approached.

"Not now Rocky I need to talk to Miss Appleby. It can wait, can't it?" She questioned figuring whatever it was they could discuss it at the Youth Center.

Rocky sighed heavily. "Yeah I guess so." He said as Kat walked off and Tommy and Adam walked over toward him.

"You ready to go to the Youth Center?" Adam asked.

"Yup." Rocky replied and the three boys exited the classroom and made their way toward their daily hangout.

* * *

It didn't take Carri long to get to the Youth Center. She could never forget where that place was. She walked into the front door and headed up to the counter, sitting on one of the stools. "Hey Ernie can I get a soda?" She asked.

Ernie spun around not sure who was talking to him. "Do I know you?" He asked taking a good look at her. "Wait... little Carri Hillard?" He asked with a smile.

"Well I've grown up a bit since eighth grade." She joked.

"I can see that." Ernie said with a smile as he grabbed her a soda. "So what brings you here?"

"Well I thought I would do a little history until Kat got here." She replied with a smart-ass answer. Ernie gave her a look and she grinned. "Seriously though my parents let me move in with Kat's family here in town. I'm now a California girl again."

"That's great." Ernie said. He missed seeing the Hillard kids in there everyday. "So I imagine I'll be seeing you around then."

"Absolutely." Carri replied as she grabbed her soda and walked away. She headed over to an open table and pulled out her history book. Looking at the first page she let out a long sigh. It was going to be a long boring read with extra small font and a more than uninteresting introduction.

* * *

Rocky, Adam and Tommy made their way into the Youth Center and headed for an open table, two down from the spot Carri settled herself in. It didn't take long for Rocky to notice her sitting there.

"There she is." He said looking at his friends and gesturing toward her.

"Where?" Adam questioned turning to look at her.

Rocky whopped him on the shoulder. "Don't stare." He reprimanded.

Adam frowned as that was exactly what his friend was doing. Tommy smiled at Adam before he spoke. "Go talk to her."

"I don't know." Rocky said letting his voice trail off as he started to get nervous.

"Rocky DeSantos I have never seen you shy away from a girl." Adam said, doing some reprimanding of his own.

"You're right." Rocky said as he stood, suddenly very determined. "I'm going over there."

"Hey guys." Kat and Tanya said in unison as they walked over to the table.

The boys greeted them and Kat spoke again. "Remember how I said my cousin was moving in with me?"

"Yeah." Tommy replied as he looked up at her.

"Well she's here and I'd like for you guys to meet her." Kat continued smiling at all of them.

"Maybe later. I have something I have to do." Rocky said determined not to let the girl take off on him again.

"Can't it wait?" Kat said giving him a rather pathetic look.

Rocky sighed. "Is it going to take long?"

"No." Kat promised.

"Fine." Rocky agreed and Kat's expression changed to a happier one.

The boys stood and Kat gestured for them to follow her over to Carri's table. "Guys I'd like for you to meet my cousin Carri." She said quickly doing an introduction.

"Hi." Rocky said flashing her a huge smile. "I'm Rocky, and this is Adam and Tommy."

"Nice to meet you." Carri replied smiling back at him. She couldn't help but notice that Rocky had nice eyes. She always had a thing for eyes. She tried to shake the thought as she wasn't sure Kat would care for her flirting with her friends. Besides knowing her luck he was taken already.

"She's your cousin?" Rocky whispered to Kat. She shook her head yes as she smiled at Carri.

"You guys can sit down you know." Carri said gesturing to the empty seats at the table.

Rocky was quick to sit down beside her. Kat sat on the other side of her cousin, and Adam, Tanya and Tommy filled in the middle three seats.

Tommy made a face as he noticed the open book on the table. "So you started the history?" He was not looking forward to trying to get through any of that book.

"Yeah." she replied noticing the look on his face. "It's just as sucky as you think it's going to be."

Tommy smiled at her as Rocky looked at the two girls in amazement. "You guys don't even look related."

Carri laughed. "What can I say. She's got two blonde's for parents and my mom's a brunette."

"So your fathers are related?" Tommy questioned, realizing how obvious the answer was after he said it.

"Brothers." Carri replied giving a one word response.

"So how long are you in town for?" Rocky asked continuing to ask her questions.

Carri smiled at him. She didn't mind the questions, she was more than happy to answer them. Especially the ones coming from Rocky. "I'm registered at Angel Grove High so at least through my senior year."

"Then what?" Rocky asked hoping that the answer was she'd stay here and go to school.

Carri shrugged. "Hopefully go to school somewhere in California. Now that I'm back I don't think I ever want to leave."

Rocky looked at her and flashed her a smile. She made eye contact with him and smiled back before Adam spoke. "I like that shirt." He said referencing the MTV Rock N' Jock shirt she was wearing. "Where did you get it?"

"Long story short, my dad got a couple of free tickets to the sixth annual Rock N' Jock game. He flew me and my boyfriend out and we watched the game. Afterwards I went over to the Homeboys side and jumped the fence to meet Dan Cortese."

Tanya raised an eyebrow and looked at her. "What about security?"

"That's exactly what David said. Fortunately they were too busy with Pamela Anderson to know I was there. I introduced myself to Dan, he recognized the name since my dad produced his last show." She said pausing to shrug. "Sometimes it's good to get recognized. Although not many people know the name."

"You're dad's a producer?" Adam interrupted her story. He thought that was awesome. He'd love to work behind the scenes in the movie business one day.

"Yeah it sucks. It's what took me away from Angel Grove." She replied, the sadness showing through in her voice. She shook her head for a moment before continuing. "Anyway I told Dan how much I loved his work and he hooked me up with the shirt. He even autographed it for me." She finished gesturing to the signature on the back near her shoulder.

"That's lucky." Rocky said with a smile. "One day I'd like to get one of those shirts. It will be as a player of course."

Carri grinned at him. "Of course."

"I'll be right there with you." Adam chimed in with his best friend. "I plan on hitting for the Rock N' Jock cycle." He said with a smile.

Tanya looked over at her boyfriend and smiled. "You two have high hopes." She pointed out. Rock N' Jock games were a mix of celebrities and ball players, and very few people got to do it.

"We're just good." Adam said as he leaned back and put his arm around his girlfriend.

"Well I guess one day I'll be jumping the fence to get your autographs." Carri said gesturing to Adam and Rocky.

"No way." Rocky said and she looked at him curiously. "We'd let you in as our VIP."

"Aw but that takes all the fun out of it." She said with a laugh, getting Rocky to laugh as well.

As the duo laughed someone came up behind them and cleared their throat. Carri turned to see Bulk and Skull standing there. "Hey." Carri greeted giving them a smile. Not that she really wanted to see them. They were a bit too much on the weird side for her.

"Hey Carri. Want to join us for a soda?" Skull said with a smile as he gestured from himself to Bulk.

"No thanks. I'm hanging out with my new friends here." Carri replied gesturing to the group at the table.

Skull bent down close to her and whispered in her ear. "You need to come join us. You're new here and we hate to see you hanging out with the school losers."

Carri raised an eyebrow and glanced at Skull trying hard to contain her laughter. "Losers? Wow I find it hard to believe that any cousin of mine hangs out with losers."

"Cousin?" Bulk questioned raising an eyebrow as Skull stood straight up.

"Yeah you know. Carri Hillard. Katherine Hillard. Not a random coincidence." She elaborated flashing them a smile.

Skull crossed his arms and looked around the table. "Well you know the whole losers thing was Bulk's idea. I had nothing to do with it."

"Whatever." Carri replied rolling her eyes and turning back toward her table.

"No seriously..."

"Guys just give it a rest." Rocky said cutting Skull off before he could finish. Although he had to admit, he was amused by the way she handled them and would love to see how it played out. But he didn't want the duo hanging around any more than they already were.

The two boys dropped their heads like little lost puppy dogs as they walked off. A wave of muffled laughter came across the table as the teens looked around at each other.

Rocky paused and glanced down at his watch letting out a sigh. "Well I hate to break up the fun but if I don't leave now I'm going to be late for work."

Carri looked over at him and nodded. "I should probably be going to. I have a lot of stuff to do." She certainly didn't want to spend her time in Angel Grove living out of her suitcases. She was dying to get her stuff unpacked and get started with some sort of normalcy.

"Hey we're going in the same direction. Let me walk you halfway there." Rocky suggested. It was a small miracle that she wanted to leave at the same time he did and he hoped that it would give him some time to talk to her.

"Ok." Carri said as she smiled and nodded. She slammed her history book closed and dropped it into her backpack with a thud before zipping it up. She stood and threw it over her shoulder, saying her goodbyes to the rest of the table as she and Rocky exited the building.

The duo took off in the same direction, walking in silence at the beginning as neither could figure out what to say. Rocky was the first to break the silence as he tried to worm his way to the topic that had been on his mind for a while.

"That's awesome that you got that from Dan." he said gesturing to her shirt. "I bet your boyfriend was happy."

Carri chuckled. "More like surprised. He didn't think I was getting anywhere except jail."

Rocky paused for a moment before he asked the next question. "So I bet he was sad to see you go." He said as he anxiously waited for her answer.

"Yeah. But it doesn't really matter." Carri said as she shrugged her shoulders. "I broke up with him before I left." Which was the most liberating thing she had done in years. She had really grown to loathe that relationship and the only reason she stayed with him was because her mother was so fond of him. Over the last year she realized that he didn't treat her right and that was more than a little unacceptable to her.

"So you guys broke up? That's too bad." Rocky replied trying to convey sympathy that he didn't feel.

Carri let out a little laugh. "Not really. It's something I wanted to do for a long time. It's just that my parents loved him, so I was waiting for the right excuse."

"So you're parents liked him. Big deal." Rocky replied, although he did have to admit that he would want to date someone his mother approved of. "I'm sure you'll find someone else they like."

"I hope so. My mom is quite picky, especially after we moved to New York and dad's income skyrocketed. She thinks that there aren't many boys worthy of me." Carri said with a sigh. They had always been quite well off in California. Her father was still a producer and a director when she was little and that kept them upper class. But when he started his own production company in New York everything changed, including her mother.

Rocky nodded in understanding although truthfully he had no idea how money could effect people. What little money his family had they worked hard to get it and it certainly wasn't enough to make them different. He couldn't imagine how Carri's mom was, but fortunately she seemed pretty down to Earth and certainly didn't come across as a rich stuck up snob.

There was another silence as they walked through Angel Grove park and got close to the Hillard's home. This time it was Carri's turn to break the silence. "So now that you know a little bit about me, how about you tell me some about yourself."

"Well let's see. I was born and..." He joked looking over at Carri who curled her lips into a smile as she rolled her eyes. He smiled back at her before continuing. "Where to start..." He let his voice trail off as he thought for a moment. He had an idea and he turned to her and started to fill her in on his life.

* * *

As Rocky and Carri were walking through the park, King Mondo loomed over them watching them working on new ideas for the destruction of the Power Rangers. He turned away from the rangers and toward his servant. "Klank, I want to know who that girl is with the blue ranger."

Klank stood next to him and bowed. "Your highness, that is the cousin of the pink ranger."

Mondo thought about that for a moment. "I have an idea."

"Nothing too destructive I hope." His wife Queen Machina chimed in. Some of his plans were more of a disaster than anything.

"Of course not. We're going to kidnap the rangers new friend. Those pesky brats will give us anything we want if we have her." Mondo said as he worked through his plan in his head.

Prince Sprocket got exited. He loved his fathers plans. "Yeah we can demand all sorts of things from them if we have her."

"Klank! Send in the cogs!" Mondo bellowed.

"Yes your highness." Klank replied and with a quick bow he was off.

* * *

"So where exactly is this work that you're rushing off to?" Carri questioned as they continued on through the park.

"The beach." Rocky said with a smile. "I'm a lifeguard."

"That must be fun." Carri replied. That was one of the things she missed most about California, the beaches. She couldn't wait to head out there and lay out in the sun. She'd have to figure out where he was on the beach one day and lay out next to him.

"Absolutely." He replied with a smile.

The duo turned and took a short cut as their walk was coming to an end. As they were making small talk a dozen of Mondo's cogs appeared in their path.

Rocky quickly stepped protectively in front of her. "Get out of here!" He exclaimed.

She was more than happy to oblige as she turned to run. "Easier said than done." She replied upon realizing they were surrounded.

Rocky tensed up as panic settled in his gut. He needed to morph to protect them both, but there was no way he could do it with her standing there. He hoped that the others would be alerted soon and help would arrive.

Surprisingly Carri wasn't too terribly worried. Kat had warned her that this was going to happen. She was more surprised that they waited this long. After all here she was, a normal citizen and the pink rangers cousin living in ground zero. She figured they'd find her the perfect target. She felt somewhat prepared for this and figured if they were going to attack, she might as well stand up to them. "Ok so we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Personally I prefer the easy way, you know where you take off and we forget this ever happened."

Not to her surprise, the Cogs didn't move. Carri shrugged her shoulders and threw her backpack down. "Fine then. We'll do it the hard way." She said as she stood in fighting stance, thinking about how all those karate classes would finally pay off.

Rocky stood there in amazement but didn't have much time to react as the Cogs started running at him. Both he and Carri started the battle. He was surprised as she was ducking attacks and throwing punches like a natural. Between her skills and him watching her back, the cogs didn't stand a chance. Seeing that their mission was failing, the cogs disappeared.

"That was amazing. Where did you learn to fight like that?" Rocky asked after they took off.

She shrugged at him and smiled. "I'm from New York. You can't survive there without some sort of fighting skill." It wasn't completely a lie, but she wasn't ready to dive into the story about all the karate classes she took and why she took them.

"Oh." Rocky responded as she picked up her things and walked off and he chased after her.

* * *

Mondo slammed his staff down on the ground in a moment of rage. "I can't believe this! She defeated the cogs like she was one of the rangers!"

"But sire she's not one of them." Klank reminded him. "You should send a monster after her, she'd never be able to defeat one of your monsters."

"Silence! I need time to think." Mondo said as he paused for a moment. "I know. We'll send a monster to capture her. She won't be able to defeat a monster."

"Great idea dad." Sprocket said as he clapped.

"Yes your highness. You come up with some of the best ideas." Klank said as he turned to go figure out what kind of monster they were going to send out.

* * *

Rocky and Carri approached the corner where they were going to part ways. They stopped and he looked over at her. He was concerned that if Mondo came after her once he would try again, but there wasn't much he could do about it. He would have to trust she would be safe the rest of the way as he couldn't babysit her.

He sighed and smiled at her before he spoke. "Look about what happened back there,"

"Don't worry about it." Carri spoke quickly, cutting him off. "I'm ok, you're ok, that's all that matters."

"I guess you're right." Rocky replied giving her a smile. "I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Yup. See you tomorrow." Carri said as she caught his eyes with hers and smiled back.

Rocky watched as she turned and headed in the direction of the house. He kept his eyes on her until she was out of sight then turned and headed for the beach.

* * *

The rest of the day went by uneventfully. At ten that night Carri found herself sitting on the couch watching tv, thinking about everything that went on. Her thoughts were interrupted when Tanya opened the door and walked in, fresh from the movies with Adam.

"Hey." Carri said as Tanya walked over to the couch.

"Hey." She replied as she stood behind the couch and leaned on the back of it.

"Did you have a good time?" Carri questioned absentmindedly as she flipped through the channels.

"Yup." Tanya replied as she leaned in close to Carri. "What I want to know is did you?"

Carri glanced back at her like she was crazy. "Did I what?"

"Have a good time. Walking home with Rocky. You know that boy has a huge crush on you." Tanya elaborated.

Carri grinned slyly at her. "I know that. I caught him staring at me in class a few times." She said forgetting to mention that she had only caught him because she had taken a glance or two at him.

"So? What did you guys talk about?" She questioned. She was eager to see if he'd asked her out on a date. Adam didn't think he would just yet but Tanya wasn't so sure.

Carri shrugged. "It wasn't that exciting." She pointed out in case Tanya was looking for juicy gossip. "It was just a get to know you chat. You want to know what he brought up first?"

"David?" Tanya questioned. If he wanted an opportunity with her he'd have to know if she was still with her New York boyfriend.

"Of course." Carri replied with a smile.

"I knew it." Tanya said with a laugh as she turned toward the stairs. "I'm heading to bed. We'll talk more tomorrow."

Carri nodded and said goodnight and turned to see Tanya walking up the stairs. On her way up she passed Kat, who was coming downstairs to have a conversation with her cousin about her first day.

"Hey." Carri greeted as Kat came over and sat on the couch.

Kat flashed her cousin a smile. "Hey." She replied.

Carri clicked off the television and turned toward her. "I have to tell you what happened to me today."

Kat looked at her curiously and when she didn't continue she pushed her to go on. "Which was?"

"Rocky and I were attacked in the park by those cog things. We're both ok, I kicked ass, but wow. That was wild." She said giving her a quick story of the incident.

Kat nodded as it didn't surprise her. "I hate to say I told you so but..." She let her voice trail off. She had been afraid if Carri came in and started hanging around her and her friends that she would be a target for Mondo.

"I know, I know. At least you told me about everything. I would've freaked out if you hadn't." Carri said. She didn't want to hear Kat lecture her about how she thought it would be dangerous in Angel Grove.

"I wouldn't have told you everything if I hadn't already while I was under Rita's spell." Kat quickly pointed out. She didn't care about betraying the ranger's secret but when she was evil, it didn't matter. She had told Carri and tried to take it all back later but her cousin wasn't stupid. Ever since then Kat had kept her updated. She had to admit, it was nice to have someone on the outside to talk to about being a ranger.

"Well I'm thankful for Rita. If it weren't for her you wouldn't be a ranger and I wouldn't know the biggest secret in my best friend's life." Carri said smiling at her.

"True." Kat replied as she stretched and looked over at the clock. "I think it's about time to crawl into bed."

"Yeah." Carri replied as Kat got up off the couch. Carri jumped up as well and she followed her cousin upstairs, both girls off in their own little worlds.

* * *

Tanya, Kat and Carri arrived inside the school building the next day just as the minute bell rang. They each hurried off to their class in order to avoid spending first period in lock out.

First period was a breeze, and Carri actually found herself awake and alert and enjoying it. As soon as the bell rang she gathered all her things and tossed them into her bag, hurrying off to second period to try and get a better seat that the one next to Bulk and Skull. Unfortunately second period was on the other side of the building and when she arrived she quickly realized that the class was filling. She saw her seat from the day before and cringed at the thought of going back to it.

Fortunately for her Rocky noticed her come in and already saved her a seat. "Carri!" he called out across the room as he waved at her.

She let out a sigh of relief as she scooted through the class and slipped into the seat that he had been kind enough to save. "Thanks guys." She said thrilled that she didn't have to spend the next fifty minutes getting annoyed by Bulk and Skull.

"Anything for a friend." Rocky replied flashing her a smile.

Tommy laughed and pointed over toward Bulk and Skull, who tried to get her attention when she came in. They seemed disappointed that she chose to sit with Rocky and Tommy. "You wouldn't have rather sat with your fan club?" Tommy asked.

Carri made a face and rolled her eyes as the final bell rang. The teacher wasted no time getting class started. "Alright guys and gals I need you to sit up and pay attention. We have a lot of important stuff to go over today."

Carri sighed and leaned back into her chair. It was going to be a long class.

* * *

Several hours later Carri found herself sitting in the locker room after her fourth period gym class chatting with Ashley, who she'd met the previous day. So far they were having fun together in gym as they both had a lot in common. The bell rang and they quickly gathered their things and headed out the door. They said their goodbye's as Ashley headed off toward her next class and Carri went to meet Kat to walk to English.

"So how has your day been?" Kat asked as they headed off toward their next class.

"Not counting the boring factor it's been great." Carri said. She was easily falling back into the life of an Angel Grove student and she loved it. "I sat with some friends of yours second period, they're really nice."

"That's great!" Kat exclaimed smiling over at her cousin. "I'm glad you guys are getting along."

They walked into their English classroom and saw the three ranger boys sitting in a corner. They went over and greeted them as they sat down in their seats.

"So are you guys ready for the wonderful world of English?" Kat questioned with a smile.

"Oh yeah I've been waiting for this moment all day." Carri replied heavy on the sarcasm. The boys laughed just as the bell rang and they all quieted down and turned toward the front.

Their English teacher Mrs. Fleet stood in front of the class and smiled at them. "We are going to start the year with a major unit on William Shakespear. We are going to read three of his plays as well as preform parts of them. I suggest you all get your hands on copies of the plays so you can make notes in them." She said pausing to walk over to the board and write. "Hamlet, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet are the plays we will study." She said as she wrote.

Mrs. Fleet turned back to the class and walked in front of her desk and leaned against it. "Let's start with a bit of history on the man himself."

Mrs. Fleet went on to do a fifty minute lecture on Shakespearian history. They had all heard it in English classes before, but it never hurt to hear it again. Except it was more than a little boring, and as the class thought they couldn't take any more the bell rang.

"So what are everyone's plans for lunch?" Rocky asked as he put his things away.

"Kat and I have to work something for statistics for tomorrow." Adam quickly said backing out of lunch.

"Tommy?" Rocky questioned.

"Busy." He said simply as he looked down in the depths of his backpack.

"In that case, Carri would you like to join me for lunch?" Rocky questioned with a smile as he held his arm out.

"It would be an honor." She replied smiling goofily back at him as she linked her arm in his. The two headed out and toward the lunchroom leaving their friends back in the class.

"You know we could do this at the library later." Kat pointed out. In fact she thought that was the plan, not wasting their lunch period.

"I know. I was just trying to help Rocky out. He has a huge crush on your cousin. Just don't tell him I told you." Adam said with a smile as he zipped his backpack up and threw it on his shoulder. "Come on, Tanya is going to meet us in the library."

With that Kat and Tommy stood up and joined the green ranger as they all headed out of the classroom and toward the library.

* * *

Carri and Rocky enjoyed their lunch and afterwards Rocky walked her to class. As they stopped in front of Carri's door she smiled at Rocky. "Thanks. So where's your next class? I don't want you being late on my account."

Rocky pointed to the door diagonally across from her own. "I'll be fine." He said with a smile. "Hey why don't you meet me and Adam out here after class and we can all walk to chem."

"Ok." Carri agreed as they each said goodbye and headed into their classrooms.

Carri walked into calculus class and sat down. It didn't take long for her fan club to come in and claim the empty seats next to her. She sighed and shrunk down in her seat as class began. Fortunately for her it flew by and as the bell rang she threw her stuff together and headed out into the hallway.

Bulk and Skull followed her out and loomed around her until Adam and Rocky appeared. "Hey guys!" She greeted quickly walking over toward them.

"Hey." Rocky said as Adam waved.

The trio started off toward their last class of the day with Bulk and Skull on their heels. Carri glanced back at them as they tried not to be obvious about following them, then she turned back to the boys and smiled. "Looks like my fan club has resorted to stalking."

Rocky laughed and Adam looked at him curiously. The blue ranger quickly pointed toward the duo behind him. Adam turned and caught a glimpse of them before laughing as well. They approached their chem class and Carri and Rocky walked in, saying goodbye to Adam who was off to history.

They sat by Tommy and Kat, and Bulk and Skull were quick to sit behind them. "Surprise, surprise." Carri muttered as she caught a glimpse of them.

"What?" Rocky questioned as he turned and saw the duo. "Oh."

The bell rang and Miss Appleby's class got underway. Chemistry was not an exciting subject but Miss Appleby was a great teacher so class flew by. It wasn't long before the final bell rang and the students were free to go.

"Who's going to the Youth Center?" Tommy questioned although he figured he already knew that answer.

"I'm there." Carri quickly replied.

"Me too." Rocky added.

"Adam and I can show for a minute before we have to get back to statistics." Kat said. She didn't want to get back to the math, it was already driving her crazy. But they had to get done and she wanted to do it sooner rather than later.

"Tanya wanted me to let you guys know that she'd be there." Carri added before she forgot.

"Then let's head over there." Tommy said as they all gathered their things and headed out the door.

* * *

The others arrived at the Youth Center shortly after Tanya, who was sitting at a table waiting for them. "Hey guys. What took you so long?" She asked with a smile.

"Well the thought of seeing you slowed us down." Adam teased as he sat down next to her and put and arm around her, giving her a quick kiss.

The others sat down around the table and quickly started a conversation. They went on for a half an hour before someone Carri didn't know appeared out of nowhere and started talking to Tommy.

"Hey Tommy are you ready to do some sparring?" Billy Cranston asked. He had spent some time in the Power Chamber after spending the morning taking accelerated classes at Angel Grove High and part of the afternoon taking community college courses that went toward his high school diploma. "You promised to show me that new move."

"Yeah of course." Tommy said as he looked up. As he did he noticed the blank expression on Carri's face and realized that they must not have been introduced. "Carri this is a good friend of ours, Billy Cranston. And Billy this is Kat's cousin Carri Hillard."

"Pleasure to meet you." Billy said as he extended his hand.

"Nice to meet you too." Carri replied as she shook it.

Kat smiled over at her cousin before glancing up at the clock. "Adam we need to get going. It's been more than the ten minutes we were going to stay." She pointed out. They desperately needed to get that work done, especially since they didn't really do much at lunch.

"You're right." Adam said as he hopped up. Kat followed him up and the duo said goodbye before heading out the door.

Shortly after they took off, Tommy stood and went to get changed in order to help Billy on the mats. The table continued to clear as Tanya stood as well. "I need to go talk to Ernie about something. I'll see you guys later?"

"Yeah, later." Carri said with a smile as she walked off. Once she was gone she turned to Rocky. "We emptied out pretty fast. Since there's nothing else going on here I think I'm going to go home and catch an afternoon game."

"Game? As in baseball game?" Rocky questioned. He really liked her, and if she was into baseball that would just be icing on the cake.

"Yup." She replied.

"Mind if I join you? I'm a huge baseball fan." He told her. Although this time he really wanted to watch baseball more to spend time with a girl than for the game itself.

"No not at all." Carri replied as she stood up and Rocky followed. She pointed her hand toward the door. "Shall we?" She asked with a smile.

The duo headed out the door and toward the Hillard's home. Neither could believe their luck that the other wanted to watch baseball games with them. Rocky turned toward her and smiled before striking up a conversation. "So who's your favorite team?"

"That's easy. The Houston Astros, hands down. What about yours?" She questioned.

"Dodgers fan through and through." He replied. "What about favorite player?" He continued his line of questioning.

"The killer B's. Biggio and Bagwell. They count as one." She told him, watching as he couldn't help but laugh at her.

"Mine's Mike Piazza no contest." He replied.

"He's good." She said nodding her head as if to approve of his favorite player.

Rocky paused for a second thinking of what he was going to say next. He was going to do this, there was no doubt. He just had to figure out how he was going to do it. Finally he decided to just say it. "So, Carri, I was wondering, would you like to go with me to a movie tonight?" He asked, fingers crossed that his nerves didn't show as much as he was afraid they did.

"You asking me out on a date?" She said as she stopped and looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Well," He paused wondering if yes was the right answer from the look on her face, "yeah I am."

"In that case I'd love to." She replied flashing him a smile. She couldn't believe he was asking her out. Although she supposed he eventually would as she thought he liked her as well. She couldn't wait to tell Kat. She hoped she was cool with her dating one of her friends.

"Is seven ok?" Rocky questioned.

"Seven's great." She told him.

"Alright then seven it is." Rocky said. He walked a little closer to her and smiled at her. She smiled back before playfully giving him a little push. He took a step back when she did and she giggled and continued to walk. He quickly caught up to her and stood near her again as they headed through the park together.

As they were heading through the park goofing around they suddenly found themselves surrounded by Cogs. Carri let out a sigh. "Great. It looks like the welcome wagon's back." She said as she tossed down her backpack.

The duo started fighting off the Cogs together once more. For the second straight time they found themselves winning the battle. That was until the ugliest thing Carri ever laid eyes on seemingly fell from the sky.

"I am the Terminator, and I am here to destroy you." He announced himself as he looked directly at Carri.

"You won't be destroying anything." Rocky said. He was trying to show more confidence than he felt as he couldn't morph and he feared they wouldn't last long if the others didn't arrive soon.

Carri could sense the doubt in his voice. She sighed as she knew Kat was probably going to kill her for saying this, but she wasn't ready to die on her second day at Angel Grove High. "Go ahead and morph."

"But how"

"Just morph. I'll explain later." Carri said quick to cut him off. Now was not the time for details as Terminator was coming at them. Carri was afraid he wasn't going to get the chance to morph and she quickly decided to distract the monster. She ran up to him in an effort to fight him off until she could get a morphed ranger on her side. She quickly realized that it wasn't a good idea as he was a lot stronger than the Cogs.

"It's morphin time!" Rocky yelled from behind her, trying to go quickly so nothing would happen to her. "Zeo ranger three, blue!"

As he finished morphing he watched in horror as Terminator grabbed her by the throat and pulled her into him. "Let her go!" He yelled.

The monster snarled at him. "I don't think so."

* * *

Tommy, Billy and Tanya were sitting around the Youth Center when their communicators went off. Quickly they got up and walked off into the corner where they usually took their pages.

"Go ahead Alpha." Tommy said once he was satisfied that they were alone.

"Rocky is under attack in the park. You must join him immediately." Alpha replied.

"We're on our way." Tommy assured the little robot. Billy teleported up to the Power Chamber as Tommy looked over toward Tanya and nodded. "It's morphin time!"

"Zeo ranger two, yellow!"

"Zeo ranger five, red!"

* * *

Kat and Adam were seated in a remote corner of the library working on their math project. "Are we sure this is how we want it?" Kat asked with a sigh as she looked it over for the thousandth time.

"It will have to do. Because." Adam stopped short as he heard his communicator go off. He and Kat immediately jumped up and walked around until they found a spot that was empty.

"What's going on?" Adam spoke into his communicator.

"You are needed in the park immediately. Mondo has sent a monster down." Alpha filled in the last two rangers on the details.

"Right." Adam said as he and Kat quickly got ready to morph. "It's morphin time!"

"Zeo ranger one, pink!"

"Zeo ranger four, green!"

* * *

The rest of the team quickly joined Rocky in the park and they gathered together to face off against the monster. "Alright, time to take you out." Tommy said pointing toward Terminator who still had Carri firmly in his grasp.

"I don't think so." Terminator growled. "I still have your little friend here and she's coming with me."

Rocky continued to stare down the monster while pointing his pistol at him. As soon as he morphed he drew his weapon. He wanted to fire but he was afraid to hurt Carri. The monster had taunted him and was getting ready to leave when the others arrived. Now that he had the others here he was hoping they could get her away from him.

No one noticed as the pink ranger slipped away from the others. Seconds later she found herself behind Terminator. "You're not taking her anywhere. Zeo one, power kick!" She yelled as she kicked the monster with all the force she had.

As Terminator got hit he instinctively let Carri go and she went flying out of his arms. She rolled on the ground and came to a stop as the blue ranger ran toward her. "Are you ok?" Rocky asked.

"I'm fine." She replied as she let him pull her to her feet. She wasted no time running out of the way and hiding.

"You haven't won yet!" Terminator roared, furious that he let the girl go.

The rangers regrouped in front of him. "I wouldn't be so sure about that." Tommy said with a smile. The rangers quickly pulled out their weapons and fired on him, and in seconds he was little metal pieces on the ground.

Carri was about to emerge from hiding when over to the side she saw two strange looking robots. One of them was twirling the little one high in the air. He let the little one go and it flew over to Terminator, attaching itself to him and making him grow high in the air.

"You tiny rangers can't stop me now!" Terminator bellowed from above.

"We'll see about that!" Rocky yelled back at him just as Tommy called for the zords.

"We need Zeo Zord power now!" Tommy cried as the five Zeo zords came barreling towards them. The rangers leaped into their zords and quickly formed the Megazord. The power of the Megazord was too much for Terminator and he was brought down for good.

* * *

"Won't we ever be able to defeat those rangers!" King Mondo roared, angered by yet another loss.

"In time dear." His wife tried to comfort him.

"Klank!" Mondo's yell rang through the walls.

"Yes your highness." Klank said as he quickly ran to his side.

"This is all your fault. It was your idea to bring in the monster." He said blaming his help.

"I deeply apologize sire." Klank replied with a bow before scurrying off to avoid any more of Mondo's wrath.

* * *

The rangers arrived back on land after the monster disappeared, and Carri hurried over to them to try and keep them from leaving. "Wait!" She said as they turned toward her. "We need to talk. Go ahead and de-morph, or whatever it is you do."

Rocky and Kat were the only two to power down. Kat reluctantly looked over at her teammates. "It's ok guys, she knows."

The others powered down and Tommy looked sternly at her. "You told her?" He said trying to contain his anger.

"It wasn't Kat's fault." Carri quickly jumped in to defend her cousin. "She was under Rita's spell when she told me. It was too late to take it back once she was good so she kept me up to date."

"If it wasn't for Rita's spell I never would have told her." Kat assured the others as she locked eyes with Tommy.

"I guess that's ok." Adam said as he thought out loud. The other rangers turned toward him. "I mean, Rita was a pretty powerful witch."

"Adam's right." Tommy said with a sigh after thinking about it for a moment. "As long as you didn't tell anyone."

"Don't worry you're secret is safe with me." Carri promised. The others looked at her and nodded. She grinned at them before continuing. "Besides if I tried to tell anyone they'd probably just lock me away in the nuthouse."

Carri got a soft chuckle from the ranger team with that comment as the tension surrounded the group disappeared. Carri seemed nice enough and if Kat could trust her with this secret, they all would.

"Well guys we have some work we have to be doing." Kat said gesturing to herself and Adam.

"You're right." Adam agreed as he and Kat said their goodbyes and teleported out.

"Yeah and we probably should get back to the Youth Center before we're missed." Tommy said as Tanya nodded.

"See you later." Carri called out as they teleported off as well.

"Since that's all said and done, I do believe we have a Dodgers-Astro's game to attend to." Rocky reminded her.

Carri smiled and picked up her bag off the ground. "So what are we waiting for? Let's get to it." She said as she started to walk off.

Rocky grabbed his backpack off the ground and ran to catch up to her, and the duo enjoyed a nice peaceful walk back to the Hillard household.

* * *

"Five bucks say the Dodgers win." Rocky said smugly as he and Carri sat down on the couch and she turned on the television.

She grinned slyly at him. "You're on." She replied figuring it would be nice to win a little bit of money.

Quickly she flipped over to ESPN in order to catch the broadcast. Thanks to the run in with the Terminator they missed the first inning, but it didn't appear as though they missed much. "Ha Darryl blanked LA in the first." Carri said with enthusiasm.

Rocky made a face. "Big deal. The game just started." He reminded her. They started to listen to the television announcer as they watched the bottom of the first inning. As they watched Rocky put his arm behind Carri on the couch, debating on whether or not he wanted to wrap it around his shoulder.

He thought about it as they focused in on the action, which quickly escalated in Carri's favor. "Zero - two pitch to Bagwell. Bases loaded, no outs. Nomo's in a lot of trouble." The announcer said as Carri scooted toward the edge of her seat. "Let's see if he gets the green light. He does and he swings... line drive center field. Back to the wall goes DeShields and it sails over his head. Grand slam Jeff Bagwell."

Carri jumped up and pumped her fist in the air. "Yes!" She exclaimed collapsing down to the couch.

"That's just great." Rocky pouted but the moment wasn't a total loss. Carri fell back down onto the couch while his arm draped onto her shoulder and she moved closer to him as they continued to watch the game.

* * *

At the end of the game, Carri found herself once again on the edge of the couch listening to the announcer. "Top of the ninth, two outs. Billy Wagner is one pitch away from striking out the side and winning the game."

"Come on Billy you can do it." Carri said as she absentmindedly went to grab on to the edges of the couch. One hand ended up squeezing the couch pillow while the other squeezed Rocky's knee. However she wasn't paying it much attention as they were both zoned in on the game.

At that moment Adam and Tanya headed in the front door. The yellow ranger glanced over at the pair on the couch and turned toward her boyfriend, eyebrow raised. "Don't they look happy?" she smiled as she only spoke loud enough for Adam to hear.

"Eric all you have to do is get on base and let Mike hit you home." Rocky pleaded with the television as he scooted forward as well.

The announcer spoke again as Wagner was ready on the mound. "Fastball on the way. Karros swings and misses." He said pausing for a moment. "And that will do it from the Astrodome with Houston winning eight to seven."

"Man that was a close one." Rocky said as he collapsed back into the couch.

Carri flashed him a giddy smile. "Whatever." She replied holding out her hand in order to collect her winnings.

Reluctantly Rocky pulled a five dollar bill out of his pocket and put it into her hand. She snatched it up quickly and shoved it into her back pocket, turning to him as he looked down at his watch. "It's seven already? We had better get going or we're going to be late." He said as he jumped up and motioned for Carri to follow. She stood as well and the duo started to make their way to the door.

"Where are you guys headed?" Tanya asked curiously before they had a chance to take off.

"To the movies." Carri replied pausing briefly and turning toward Tanya. "Hey you guys have been a lot lately. Do you have anything you'd recommend?"

Adam thought about it for a moment. "We saw Romeo and Juliet yesterday. That was alright." It had been better than the chic flick Tanya had dragged him to the last time they went to the movies.

"Yeah and Leonardo DiCaprio looked hot in it too." Tanya added with a laugh.

Carri giggled and looked over at Rocky who raised an eyebrow. "Well? What do you think?"

"Sounds good to me." She replied.

"Then Romeo and Juliet it is." He replied with a smile as they walked toward the door. He got half way out when he suddenly stopped. "Oh man." He said feeling as though he was ready to kick himself.

"What?" Carri questioned looking at him curiously.

"We were watching the game and I forgot to go home to get my car. We'll never make it on time." He couldn't believe he'd forgotten about his car. He was looking forward to this movie date but there was no way it could happen.

Adam reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys, tossing them over to his best friend. "Here. Take my car." He suggested. He knew this meant a lot to Rocky and he didn't need the car so he figured why not.

"Are you sure?" Rocky questioned raising an eyebrow.

"Positive." Adam assured him. "It's no big deal. Besides, I'll probably still be here when you get back."

"Thanks man I owe you one." Rocky said as he and Carri headed out.

Adam and Tanya smiled at each other as they made their way over toward the seats on the couch that their two friends just vacated. Turning on the television they curled up next to each other and started clicking through the channels.

* * *

Tanya and Adam were still sitting on the couch and had been joined by Kat and Tommy by the time Carri and Rocky got home that evening. They heard the footsteps before the door swung open and Carri walked through.

"I had a lot of fun tonight. We'll have to do it again sometime." Carri said as she smiled over at Rocky who was entering the house behind her.

"Absolutely." He agreed as he shut the door behind himself.

Carri glanced over and saw the rest of the Zeo rangers watching television. "Hey guys."

They all said hello in reply as they were engrossed with the program they were watching. Adam barely noticed as Rocky tossed him his keys before putting an arm around Carri. "Thanks again for loaning me your car."

"Don't worry about it." Adam said brushing him off so he could see the end of the show. A few seconds later "To Be Continued" flashed across the screen and he put his hands up.

"I can't wait until next week to see the end." Tommy complained not wanting to be patient.

Kat smiled at him. "I guess that's everyone's cue to leave."

"Do we have to?" Adam asked jokingly as he cuddled up next to Tanya.

"Yes." Tanya replied as she leaned over and gave her boyfriend a kiss.

Adam stood and looked over at Rocky. "You need me to give you a ride?" He questioned.

"That would be great." Rocky replied.

"I guess we'll go." Adam said sneaking in another kiss with his girlfriend. As he did Tommy stood, and both boys headed out the front door.

Rocky lingered behind for a moment, leaning in to give Carri a quick kiss. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Definitely." She replied as she watched him leave.

Rocky closed the door as he left, leaving the three females alone in the house together. Kat quickly turned off the television and glanced over at her cousin. "Come, sit." She said with a smile, pointing at Carri and gesturing to the spot on the couch between herself and Tanya.

Carri scooted in between the two girls as Kat smiled sweetly at her. "Ok spill. We want details."

"Details? There aren't any details." Carri said brushing her off and staring forward at a blank television.

Tanya laughed. "Please we saw you kiss him over there. There are details."

"Fine. We went to the movies. We had a good time." Carri replied. They actually had a really good time as he had put his arm around her for most of the film and she leaned in close to him enjoying his company. But she wasn't going to give them that satisfaction just yet.

"And? What do you think about Rocky?" Tanya questioned. She was dying to know if there was a future for the duo.

"Rocky?" Carri repeated. "He's great. I like him. I think we're going to go out again."

"Good I'm glad." Kat said smiling at her cousin. Before Carri came down she wouldn't have imagined her with Rocky. But she shouldn't have been surprised, they had a lot of things in common. And they made a cute couple. It was great that she had found someone there. Kat wished she could find someone. Well she had someone in mind. But he, at the moment, was taken. She let out a long sigh without realizing it.

"Something wrong?" Carri asked surprised by her cousin's sigh.

"What? No of course not. You and Rocky seem like you'll be good together. I'm happy for you." Kat replied flashing her cousin a smile.

"But?" Carri asked. If anyone knew Kat it was her, and she could always tell when she had something else on her mind.

"Nothing. I mean, well I was just thinking. I'm happy you're dating, I truly am, I just wish the guy I liked was available." Kat replied. She hated when Tommy crept into her thoughts. She really liked him, but he had a girlfriend on the other side of the country. A girl who was also her friend, and she wouldn't betray that friendship to go after Tommy.

"Oh." Carri said simply as she and Tanya both frowned toward Kat. Both knew what was going on. Kat was into Tommy but he had a girlfriend that neither girl knew who lived in Florida. "Well things change." She said trying to lift up her cousin's spirits.

"I suppose." Kat said although she wasn't going to get her hopes up.

Carri glanced over at the clock. "Well I think it's about time to get to bed. We still have school tomorrow." She said as she stood.

"Yeah the quicker you go to sleep the quicker you get to see Rocky." Tanya teased as she and Kat stood as well.

Carri playfully rolled her eyes as the three girls headed up the stairs and turned in for the night.

* * *

Carri sat in her chem class the next day doodling on the sides of her notebook. She had met new friends in California and she was finally starting to be happy after pushing through the last three years of her life. However now that all of the excitement of being there had worn off, school had gone back to being its boring old self.

The final bell rang snapping Carri out of her thoughts as she and the rangers quickly stood. "So is everyone heading over to the Youth Center?" Tommy questioned as he grabbed the rest of his things. His friends gave him a goofy look. "Yeah I know, stupid question." He replied with a smile.

"What are we waiting for?" Adam asked as he grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. "Let's head over there."

The rest of the group gathered their belongs and they quickly head out the door and toward the Youth Center.

* * *

It didn't take long to get to the Youth Center. Carri was the first one in the door and she immediately spotted Tanya sitting at one of the tables. "Hey!" She called out waving to her.

Tanya smiled and waved back as Carri walked over and took a seat at the table. Adam was the next to sit, taking the seat next to his girlfriend and giving her a kiss.

The others came in and situated themselves around the table, with Rocky making sure to sit down next to Carri. As he sat he put his arm around her and she scooted close to him, leaning in on his shoulder. She stayed that way for a few seconds before moving away from him and standing. "I'm going to go grab something to munch on. Anyone want anything?"

"Grab me a soda." Rocky asked flashing her a smile.

"One for me too." Kat chimed in.

Tommy nodded. "Same here." He added.

Carri glanced over at Adam and Tanya. "You guys want anything?"

"We're fine." Adam answered as Tanya nodded in agreement.

"Ok. I'll be back." Carri said as she walked over to the counter, leaving the rangers to talk amongst themselves.

There was silence for a moment before Tommy turned to Rocky. "So are you still wanting to do that Saturday morning youth karate class with me?" They had discussed it before and were thinking about starting it at the end of the month. They hadn't officially decided but he thought they could start passing the word around if it was set in stone.

"Yeah I say we go for it." Rocky replied. He loved teaching karate and he especially enjoyed helping out the younger kids in Angel Grove.

"Do you guys enjoy it?" Kat said rather randomly as all eyes turned toward her. "Working with kids I mean."

"Of course. They're fun and eager to learn." Tommy told her. This wouldn't be the first youth karate class he'd instructed.

Kat thought for a moment before continuing. "I wanted to start up a youth dance class. What do you guys think?"

"Kat that would be great. You'd be a fantastic dance teacher." Tanya said smiling at her friend.

"I'm sure all the kids would love to be a part of your dance class." Tommy added.

"Then it's settled." Kat replied. She'd been thinking about it for a long time but to hear her friend's words of encouragement was enough to make her want to do it. "I'll have to make fliers and that sort of thing. You guys should come help Saturday night, it would be fun."

"Ok." Tommy replied and some of the others nodded. He had enough experience putting together youth classes that he would love to lend a hand to Kat.

Carri wondered back over to the table with a tray carrying four soda's and a basket of chili cheese fries. Rocky grabbed his soda and eyed her snack. "Chili cheese fries? I know you want to share." He said with a smile.

"Go ahead, have some. All of you. I doubt I can finish them all anyway." Carri replied. Adam and Rocky took that as dig in so they wasted no time. "Sheesh I didn't mean eat all of them." She joked taking a sip of her soda. "So did I miss anything while I was gone."

"I'm going to teach a youth dance class." Kat told her, watching as her cousin snuck a fry for herself.

Carri chewed it and swallowed before replying. "Kat that's great. I'm sure the kids will be able to learn a lot from you."

"I have some news." Tanya spoke up as all eyes turned toward her. "I wanted you to all be here when I told it."

Adam raised an eyebrow and looked at her curiously. "What is it?"

"Ernie's doing his after hours club tonight. He's expecting a good crowd and he wanted me to sing." Tanya explained. Every once in a while Ernie did a nighttime club for teenagers. It was usually fairly successful, and he was even able to get local teens to preform. This time he wanted her up there singing.

"Tanya that's great!" Kat exclaimed. "I can't think of anyone in Angel Grove with a better voice than you."

"I don't know about your singing, but Kat has an ear for talent and if she thinks your amazing then you must be." Carri said smiling over at Tanya.

"I'm sure the place will be packed once people hear that Tanya Sloan is singing tonight." Rocky told her. He'd heard her before and she was good, and performing at Ernie's he knew there would be a lot of people there to hear her.

Tommy smiled over at her. "One day I'll be able to say I knew you when."

"Don't think I'd ever forget about any of you if I were to make it in the music business." Tanya assured him smiling back. Truthfully she never thought she'd be able to become famous for her talent, that was just a dream. She just enjoyed being able to share something she was passionate about with others, even if it was on a small scale.

"We'll all be here to support you." Adam said putting a hand on top of his girlfriend's.

"Thanks you guys. Your support means a lot." Tanya said making eye contact with Adam and smiling at him.

There was a moment of silence at the table before Adam glanced over at his best friend. "You wanna go spar?"

Rocky shrugged. "Sure why not." He replied as he and Adam stood to go get changed.

As they walked away from the table Carri went to finish off her fries. "Next time I go to say help yourself, stop me." She joked getting a small round of laughter from the table.

"You want to go watch them spar?" Tanya asked glancing in Carri's direction.

Carri grinned at her. "Sure I'd love to watch Rocky kick Adam's butt."

"In his dreams." Tanya replied. "Adam could beat Rocky one handed." She added as she and Carri stood and went over to the mats.

"We shall see." Carri replied with a grin as they made themselves comfortable to watch the boys spar.

* * *

The six teenagers arrived back in the Youth Center later that night, shortly before the time Tanya was scheduled to sing. They all sat around a table while they waited. As they got situated, Carri leaned over to Tanya and grinned as she whispered, "The last time we were here Rocky was busy kicking Adam's butt."

"Lucky shot." Tanya whispered back as Ernie motioned for her to come up onto the small stage. She stood up and headed to the microphone while her friends turned all eyes toward her.

"This is going to be good." Adam promised as Ernie did a quick introduction before turning the stage over to Tanya.

The concert lasted about an hour and it was absolutely amazing. When it was over Tanya got a standing ovation from everyone in the crowd. With a huge grin on her face Tanya jumped off of the stage and ran to her friends who were standing and waiting for her.

"That was amazing." Adam said as he threw his arms around her and gave her a kiss.

"Thanks." Tanya replied as she sat down at the table with her friends. Tons of people came over and started congratulating her, some of them she recognized from school and some she had no clue who they were including the two men in black suits who quickly approached her.

"Hello." One of them said flashing her a quick smile.

"Hi." Tanya replied looking up at them curiously.

"My name is Shawn Davis and I represent MCA records." He said as he pulled a card out of his pocket and handed it to her. "We are here tonight to make you and offer that will make anything you've ever seen before look bad."

"I don't know." Tanya said hesitant to hear what they had to say.

Shawn gestured to the back area where Ernie's office was. "Step into my office and we can go over the details."

Tanya glanced over at Adam for a moment who nodded to encourage her. After all it couldn't hurt to hear what they had to say. "Ok." She agreed as she stood and followed them.

As they disappeared Ernie approached the table. "I see Tanya met my friends."

"You set her up?" Adam questioned as Ernie nodded. "Good job." He knew his girlfriend had talent and he would love to see her be able to put it to good use.

A few minutes later Tanya came back up to the table. "Guys this is going to be a while." She said flashing them an apologetic smile.

Everyone nodded and said their goodbyes as they slowly made their way back home. Tanya returned late enough that Kat and Carri were already asleep by the time she got there. She made her way up to her room and crawled into bed. Telling everyone what happened would have to wait until the next day.

* * *

The group of teenagers found themselves not having any time the following day to sit down and have an extensive conversation with Tanya about her previous night. Carri was the only one who had any time to speak with her before they met that afternoon at the Youth Center. But when the craziness of the school day settled down, Kat, Carri, Rocky, Tommy, Adam and Billy met Tanya at a round table in the Youth Center.

"So? Did you sign a contract?" Carri immediately asked, her curiosity getting the best of her.

"Nope." Tanya replied shaking her head.

Adam frowned as he looked at his girlfriend. "Did they offer you anything?" He was hoping that they didn't get her hopes up only to crush her in the end.

"Yeah I have the contract right here." Tanya told him as she pulled it out of her backpack. "I just haven't decided if I want to sign it or not."

"Can we see it?" Kat asked, watching as her friend nodded and tossed it on the table.

Carri was the first to pick it up and glance over it. It was very extensive and quite a lucrative deal. "Check this out. And I'm just covering the fine points." She spoke gaining the table's attention. "She gets a million dollars if she puts out a record that is a success. You know, top twenty, good air time. If that record were to stay in the top five for three consecutive weeks she'd get a bonus five million. On top of the million for the successful record, she'd get a five album, six point five million dollar deal."

"Why haven't you signed yet?" Adam questioned surprised by her offer. This was her dream, she should jump on it.

"Here's the catch." Carri continued figuring the rest of the contract would be Adam's answer. "She'd have to relocated to New York to work in their studios. They'd pay for everything of course and make sure she got enrolled in school up there. The only condition of the contract is that within the next few years she has to create a record that they will release when they deem ready. There's a lot of other stuff but those are the big points."

There were murmurs around the table as everyone was surprised by the contract she had gotten offered. "You're going to sign that right?" Adam asked, the first of the group to speak aloud. He didn't want his girlfriend to leave but she couldn't pass this up.

"I don't know." She replied hesitantly.

"Tanya this is amazing." Rocky told her not knowing what else to say. He didn't know what the hold up was, he'd sign it.

Kat nodded in agreement with Rocky. "This is the break everyone looks for."

"Yeah you should go for it." Tommy encouraged.

"I don't know. This is great and all but I have a lot of obligations in Angel Grove I don't think I could leave." Tanya told them the sadness showing through in her voice. Sure she wanted to do it, but she didn't think it was feasible.

Carri's eyes widened and she looked at her. "You mean you can seriously say you have something in Angel Grove bigger than this?"

Tanya nodded her head in response as her boyfriend took her hand and lowered his voice to a whisper. "If you mean the rangers I think you should talk to Zordon before you make any decisions."

"We love you like family but we don't want you to give up your dream for us." Tommy added. He'd hate to see her give this all up for the Power Rangers. Sure they were important, but they'd replaced rangers before for opportunities such as this and they'd do it again. Zordon encouraged his rangers to pursue their dreams.

"I don't know." Tanya replied softly.

"Just talk to Zordon." Kat encouraged. She wanted her to talk to their mentor before she made any rash decisions.

"Ok." Tanya finally agreed. She gave Adam a kiss on the cheek and walked out of the view of the patrons in the Youth Center before hitting a button on her communicator and teleporting off.

When the yellow light faded from around her she found herself standing in the Power Chamber. "Zordon there's something I need to talk to you about." She said as she stepped in front of his tube.

"What is wrong Tanya?" Zordon asked.

Tanya took a deep breath and proceeded to fill him in on everything that was going on. She told him about her concert and the record executives, the contract they offered her, finishing with her reasons for not wanting to go. When she was done she looked up at him hoping that he had some answers for her.

"You are a valuable member of this team. You have brought us a lot and it would be difficult to replace you." Zordon started to speak. "However I would not ask you to continue with the team if it meant giving up your dreams as they are important. I cannot tell you want to do, the decision is yours. I will respect whatever conclusion you arrive at."

Tanya nodded her head as she leaned against one of the console's. She made a mental list, weighing all the pros and cons of signing this and taking off for New York. In the end Zordon was right. She may never get this opportunity again.

"Alpha call the others. I have something I need to tell them."

* * *

The remainder of the team was sitting with Billy and Carri in the Youth Center when their communicators started going off. Rocky smiled at Carri as they stood. "We'll be right back." He said as he followed the others to a secure location

"What is it Alpha?" Tommy questioned once they were all out of sight.

"You need to teleport to the Power Chamber immediately." Alpha told him.

The little robot didn't sound anxious and Tommy wasn't sure what was going on as he looked over at the other rangers and nodded before teleporting out. "What's going on? Is it Mondo?" He asked as soon as they arrived.

"Tanya has come to a decision." Alpha said gesturing to the yellow ranger.

Adam walked over and took his girlfriend's hand. "Whatever you've decided we support you."

"Thank you." She replied giving his hand a squeeze. "I've decided... I've decided I can't pass this up. I'm going to sign the contract and go to New York."

"Tanya that's great." Adam said as he put his arms around her and gave her a kiss.

"Congratulations." Kat was the first to speak as the others chimed in with similar remarks.

Rocky made a goofy face as he looked over at her. "Now I need to get your autograph so I can say I knew you when."

"I told you I'm not going to forget about any of you." Tanya said with a smile as she turned toward Adam. "Especially you."

"When will you be leaving?" Billy asked. It was sad to see her go but he was excited that she was getting this opportunity.

"Tomorrow." Tanya replied with a hint of sadness. "That means we don't have long to find my replacement."

"I have an idea." Kat replied. All eyes turned toward her and the others nodded as they knew what she was thinking.

* * *

Carri sat at the table playing with the straw in her soda as Rocky walked back over to her. "Hey that was fast. Where's everybody else?"

"They had something they had to do with Billy." Rocky replied quickly flashing her a smile. The smile faded and he continued. "Carri do you trust me?"

"Of course I do. Why do you ask?" She questioned raising an eyebrow.

Rocky held his hand out to her. "Come with me." He said.

Completely confused by the situation, Carri took his hand and allowed him to pull her out of her seat. He lead her out of the building and down a nearby alleyway, gripping her tightly before hitting a button sending them both off.

Once Carri's vision cleared and the funny feeling of whatever happened to her wore off, it didn't take long for her to realize she wasn't near the Youth Center any more. She was standing in a highly technologically advanced room with her friends, a little robot, and a giant head floating in a tube.

"Here we are." Rocky said smiling at her.

"And were, exactly, is here?" She replied making a face at him.

"Here is the Power Chamber, home of the Power Rangers." Rocky replied.

Kat took her cousin by the hand and pointed to the little robot. "This is Alpha." She said as he lifted a hand and waved at her. "He's the assistant to our mentor, Zordon." She finished pointing to the head in the tube.

"Hello." Carri said awkwardly.

"Welcome." Zordon replied. "You have been brought here because Tanya has something to tell you."

Carri turned to Tanya who was already making her way over to her. "I've decided to accept the record deal."

"Tanya that's great!" She exclaimed giving her a hug.

"Which means I can't be a Power Ranger anymore." Tanya continued after returning Carri's hug. "Which is why we brought you here. I want you to take my place."

"Me?" Carri squeaked unsure if she understood her correctly.

Tanya nodded. "You're going to be the next yellow ranger."

"But why me?" Carri said still confused at the situation.

"I know what happened out there in the park. Both times. You've already proven yourself worthy of being a ranger." Tanya explained. "I have no doubt that you have the heart and the skills to be on this team."

"Wow I don't know what to say." Carri replied rather stunned by it all.

"Say you'll do it." Tanya replied.

"Yes... yes of course." Carri said with a smile.

"Since Tanya is leaving tomorrow it would be best if the power transfer took place now." Zordon informed them as he looked over his rangers. He noticed that Carri was looking at him in amazement as he continued. "First as a ranger there are a few things you must adhere to. You may not reveal your identity as a power ranger. You cannot use the powers to serve your own purposes. They are only to be used in defense when you are attacked by Mondo's forces."

"I understand." Carri replied nodding as she agreed to his terms.

Tanya called for her piece of the zeo crystal. As it appeared in her hands she smiled over at Carri, lifting it high in the air. Trying to ignore her nervous jitters Carri reached out and grabbed the crystal. Suddenly a bright light filled the room as the power removed itself from Tanya and started coursing itself through Carri's veins. When the light finally dimmed down the crystal was gone and Carri stood fully morphed as the Yellow Zeo Ranger.

"This is awesome." Carri said as she powered down and grinned at the others.

Tanya unhooked the communicator from her wrist and handed it over to Carri. "This is yours too now. It's how we communicate with each other and teleport around."

"Thank you." Carri replied clasping it onto her own wrist. It wasn't the best looking accessory she'd ever worn, but it meant she was a power ranger and that was well worth it.

The buzz continued around the rangers as everyone was talking to Tanya and Carri. As they were contemplating returning to the surface the alarms went off causing Carri to jump.

"What was that?" She asked as Alpha let out an "Aye ai ai!"

Billy smiled at her as he and Alpha took a quick glance at the disturbance. "Looks like you've got Cogs and one ugly monster."

"We're on it." Tommy replied as he glanced down at the newest member of the team. He made eye contact with her and she nodded, and he hoped she was ready to go. "It's morphin time!"

"Zeo ranger one, pink!"

"Zeo ranger two, yellow!"

"Zeo ranger three, blue!"

"Zeo ranger four, green!"

"Zeo ranger five, red!"

With that Tanya found herself standing in the Power Chamber watching the action as the others went to take on Mondo's forces.

* * *

The rangers returned twenty minutes later victorious, and they all powered down. "You know a girl could get used to this gig." Carri said with a smile.

"Well we hope you'll be part of it for a while." Rocky replied smiling back at her.

"I intend on being." She assured him.

Adam looked around and noticed his girlfriend missing. "Where did Tanya go?"

"She returned home to start gathering her belongings." Billy informed him.

Adam nodded. "I think I should go talk to her." He said absentmindedly before teleporting out.

Rocky glanced down at his watch as his best friend teleported out. "Hey you guys want to head over to my house? In ten minutes the third game of the series starts. I'm putting ten on LA."

Carri snorted. "Well you know where my money is going."

"I'm putting my money toward the Dodgers." Tommy jumped in.

"Me too." Kat replied as her cousin shot her a look. "Sorry." She said sympathetically as she shrugged.

"Billy, you coming?" Rocky asked as a few seconds went by without the former blue ranger putting in a bet of his own.

Billy thought for a moment. "Yes. I think I am going with the Dodgers as well. Statistically they will be victorious."

"Whatever." Carri said as they all teleported to Rocky's house.

* * *

Three hours later Carri stood with a fist full of money. "Forty dollars. Never underestimate the power of the Killer B's."

"Whatever. Biggio and Bagwell got lucky." Rocky defended his team. "Back to back off Worell? How many times can you say that."

"Luck had nothing to do with it." Carri replied cheerfully.

"Well they were only down by one. A comeback was possible." Kat pointed out, not too terribly disappointed that she had lost to Carri.

"Whose side are you on anyway?" Tommy teased.

Carri grinned at the red ranger. "Mine."

"I suppose this is the part of the night where we all go home and think twice about betting against the Astros." Rocky spoke as Carri had a smug look on her face. "But then we all remember that there's no way the Astros can sweep the Dodgers." They had won the first three of the unusually long four game series and Rocky was confident they wouldn't loose the last one.

"Whatever." Carri said rolling her eyes. "I mean if that's the way you're going to be I have no problem taking your money."

Rocky raised an eyebrow. "In that case. My house. Seven tomorrow. Anybody who wants to win their money back is welcome to come."

"I'll be there. To win your money." Carri said never able to turn down any sort of competition.

"I should make it." Tommy said and Kat nodded in agreement.

"I need to head back to the Power Chamber and retrieve some of my belongings before I return home. I will see you all tomorrow?" Billy questioned. They all nodded in agreement and he quickly teleported himself off.

As Billy left, Rocky stood up and grabbed his car keys. "You guys want me to give you a ride home?" He questioned knowing full well the answer would be yes. Since they teleported there no one had a car and Zordon frowned upon using the teleportation system to jump around on personal matters.

Carri made a face. "What if I don't want to ride with you?"

"You don't have much of a choice." Rocky pointed out as he walked over and pulled her up off the couch, gently grabbing her arm and leading her to the door. Tommy and Kat looked at each other and smiled before jumping up and following the others.

Unlocking the doors, Rocky quickly jumped in the front seat with Carri sitting next to him and Kat and Tommy in the back. Carri pulled her seatbelt over and made a face as she clicked it into place. "You see how I got dragged out here by my abusive boyfriend." She joked. Although Rocky was quite gentle with her and he was just playing, unlike some of the times David had dragged her somewhere. He was never abusive, but over the past few years she'd had quite a few bruises from where he'd grabbed her and pulled too hard.

With a sigh she glanced up in the rearview mirror with enough time to see Tommy roll her eyes. "What makes you think I didn't see that Mr Oliver?" She questioned, memories of New York slipping away as she was pulled back into the present.

"See what?" Tommy questioned, throwing his arms up as Rocky started the car and backed out of the driveway.

"I see how it's gonna be." Carri replied crossing her arms over her chest before turning to glare back at Tommy. The look was meant to be cold but the smile forming at the corners of her mouth gave it away.

Rocky laughed. "I think I'm going to drop you off first so I don't have to deal with you anymore." He said as he headed in the direction of the Hillard's. Truthfully they lived closer than Tommy which is why he was going there first, but he thought it would be fun to pick all the same.

"Now you've gone and hurt my feelings." Carri said, arms still firmly crossed as she let out a fake sniffle.

"Aw I'm sorry." Rocky replied, taking a hand off the wheel as he half hugged her. "Better?"

"Much." She said nodding at him and grinning. There was a moment of silence before Carri spoke up switching topics. "So how's life?"

"With Mondo around it's exciting as it can be." Tommy answered, the ranger related aspect of his life being the first thought to come to mind.

"No kidding." Kat chimed in, nodding her head in agreement.

"I don't mind. It will keep me on my toes." Carri said, still on high from her first adventure as a ranger. This was going to be the most awesome thing ever.

"Be careful what you wish for." Tommy warned. He remembered the feeling that he could take on the world when he first got his powers. He also remembered the first time he realized that although some of the battles were easily won the bad guys were a formidable force, one that could do some serious damage.

Rocky pulled into the Hillard's driveway as Carri was busy contemplating Tommy's words. "This is your stop."

"Thanks for the ride home." Carri said snapping out of her own world.

"Anytime." Rocky replied leaning over to give her a kiss. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." She said opening the car door. She turned and waved a quick goodbye to Tommy as Kat said her goodbyes as well, then the two girls headed for the house.

Tommy climbed out of the back seat and jumped up front with Rocky. They watched as Kat and Carri headed into the house. Once they were safely inside Rocky put the car in reverse and headed off toward Tommy's.

"You really like her don't you?" Tommy asked as they took off. He had seen Rocky go on dates with girls before but he had never seen him act this interested in one.

"Who Carri?" he questioned, turning as Tommy nodded his head yes. "Well we've only gone out on one real date. But we've hung out some. And she's nice and really good looking and she's easy to talk to and quite open about what's on her mind." He paused and thought for a moment. Truthfully she was unlike any other girl he'd ever dated and that only made him that much more interested to find out more about her.

Tommy chuckled. "So I've noticed. She says what she's thinking and doesn't care that she doesn't know us that well. Or know me that well anyway."

Rocky shrugged. "We've had time to talk. She's just so... I donno." He finished at a loss to come up with the right word.

Tommy smiled over at his friend. He did really like her, he could tell. Where it would go he wasn't sure. He hoped Carri wasn't the romantic type. After all Rocky was the one who thought that all the "mushy gushy romantic stuff" he did for Kim was silly. But then again, who knew what would happen with them.

He leaned back in the car seat and turned the radio up as Rocky drove, both boys enjoying the music as they headed toward the Oliver household.

* * *

The next day they all went to school as usual. Carri quickly found herself settling into a regular, boring, school routine. The excitement of being back in California was slowly wearing off. She still had new friends to get to know and a new boyfriend to hang out with. And of course there was the ranger thing that was quite exciting. But even that wasn't enough to keep the boredom of school from settling back in.

Eventually the boring school day ended. As usual the teens planned on meeting up with each other at the Youth Center, with the exception of Tanya. She had spent the day in school saying goodbye to everyone, then rushed home to finish packing for her flight which was scheduled to leave at six thirty that night. It was more than ok with the rangers that she wasn't there, they were working on setting up a surprise going away party for her.

"This has to be special." Adam said as they worked on decorations. He fretted about the party. He wanted to make sure she knew exactly how much she meant to them.

Rocky looked down at his best friend from the top of the ladder he was standing on to decorate. "Don't worry, it will be. She's a friend to all of us, her party is going to be awesome."

Adam nodded and looked up as Kat and Carri entered the Youth Center with Carri carrying a cake in hand. "Hey guys." She greeted them as she walked over and extended her arms to show them the cake in question. "Check this out."

"You got the goodbye cake?" Adam asked although the answer was obvious.

"Naw. It's the cake I'm going to take to the Astrodome tonight after the sweep." She said grinning wickedly at them. Rocky rolled his eyes as he climbed down the ladder and Carri continued. "Of course it's for Tanya." She said as both Rocky and Tommy made their way over to check it out.

"That looks really good." Adam said pleased that it had come out well.

"Kat figured out what to say on it. And I designed it. But I neither decorated nor baked it. That was left up to the professionals." Carri said with a grin.

"I'm glad you didn't bake it. Because, you know, we want to say goodbye for now, not forever." Rocky joked and was immediately given an over the top roll of the eyes from Carri.

"Now that we've got the cake all we have to do is finish the decorations." Tommy pointed out, ignoring the interaction between the yellow and blue rangers. "You girls care to lend a hand?"

"Of course we'll help." Kat said giving Tommy a smile. She waited for Carri to put the cake down then she and her cousin went with Tommy to figure out what they could help out on.

* * *

Thirty minutes later they were finally finished decorating. Now all that was left was to get the guest of honor. Carri went over and grabbed the phone behind the counter, quickly dialing her home number. After three rings Tanya answered.

"Hello?"

"You need to get down to the Youth Center quickly." Carri said trying her best to sound panicked.

"Why what's wrong?" Tanya asked.

Carri said the first thing she could think of to get Tanya out of the house and down there. "It's Adam. He, well... you just need to get down here."

"I'm on my way." Tanya said hanging up the phone.

Carri hung up on her end and grinned at the others. "She's heading here now."

"Of course. She thinks I need her. She'd rush down here for me." Adam said with a smile.

Before Carri could reply Rocky spoke. "Guys it doesn't take that long to get here. We should hide."

"Rocky's right." Tommy agreed as all the party guests went and found a suitable spot to hide in.

There were what felt like hours of silence before finally the door to the Youth Center cracked open. "Hello?" Tanya called out through the eerily silent space.

"Surprise!" Everyone yelled as they jumped out of hiding.

"You did all this? For me?" Tanya questioned, a bit taken back by it all. Adam came up to her and gave her a hug and a brief kiss hello.

"Of course." Kat said with a smile. "You didn't think we'd let you go without the proper send off do you?"

"Well... I... of course not." Tanya finally got out. She smiled at the others as tears misted in her eyes.

"I think we need to get this party started." Rocky said with a grin. "We should get the guest of honor to cut the cake." At the mention of food Carri rolled her eyes over dramatically and made a noise. Tanya laughed and Rocky ignored her as he made his way into the Youth Center to get the goodbye party going.

* * *

A few hours and one minor ranger interruption later the goodbye party was over and the rangers found themselves heading into the airport with Tanya. The former yellow ranger was walking in empty handed while Adam was wheeling her two suitcases toward the check in for her, along with the medium sized duffel bag over his arm. Between the three bags she was taking all her possessions with her to New York.

Tommy, Rocky, Kat and Carri had taken a different car from Adam and Tanya and were closing in behind them on their way in. Carri noticed Adam dragging both of Tanya's bags and couldn't help but make a crack. "Nice. You conned him in to carrying all your stuff."

"She didn't con me. I volunteered." Adam assured her. His girlfriend was about to leave and he'd do anything for her.

"Volunteered? You're setting high standards for the rest of us." Rocky joked. Not that he wouldn't help a girl with her bags, but he didn't think he'd volunteer to carry everything.

"Oh so you're saying if it was me you wouldn't volunteer to carry all my stuff?" Carri questioned with an eyebrow raised. Really she could care less if he did, she enjoyed being self sufficient. But she thought it would be cute to make him squirm.

Not to Carri's surprise Rocky stammered to come up with a sufficient response. Kat realized her cousin was teasing and she quickly interjected. "Please it would take a small army to carry your stuff."

Carri snorted. "I don't have that much stuff." She argued as the group stopped momentarily while Adam and Tanya headed toward the check in desk.

"I saw what you brought with you. Plus all the boxes of clothes your dad shipped to the house." Kat pointed out. She thought she had a decent sized wardrobe but her cousin had enough stuff to cover both of them for at least a year.

"I told him not to." Carri said matter-of-factly. Most of the stuff he shipped was geared toward winter weather and didn't think she was going to need any of it in California. "I don't need my New York weather clothes. I'm going to start fresh with a California wardrobe."

Tommy chuckled while Rocky snorted. Neither believed she'd abandon most of the clothes she wore in New York and buy, well, boxes worth of new clothes for California. Kat simply rolled her eyes. She knew that the others had yet to comprehend what Carri's family having money actually meant. She wasn't even sure they'd ever comprehend it. Jonathan and Becky Hillard lived their lives in high society. Carri didn't care much for the way high society talked and acted, she found most of them quite snobby which was one of the reasons she wanted to leave Manhattan and come back to Angel Grove. The one part of her parents wealth that she abused was the fact that her father had practically no restrictions when it came to buying her things. And the only things she really liked buying were clothes.

Adam and Tanya choose that moment to return, the two suitcases gone and the only reminder that one of them was leaving was the duffle bag on Adam's shoulder. "Should we head toward the gate?" Tanya's question was rhetorical as her flight would start boarding soon.

The others nodded in reply then followed her toward the security checkpoint. One by one the past and present rangers walked through the medical detector, with Adam stopping briefly to drop his bag on the conveyor belt to allow it to get scanned.

The chatter flowed freely amongst the group as they approached the gate. Before they even got a chance to get situated the boarding call was made for Tanya's flight. The former yellow ranger turned so she could face everyone. "Well guys, I guess this is goodbye."

She went to each of the rangers and hugged them, giving each of them their own goodbye message. Even Carri, who she didn't get to know as well as she wanted to. She was grateful to all of them for making her feel welcome, and especially grateful to Kat for being her best friend and opening up her home to her.

Saving the ranger she was most grateful for until last, she went up and gave Adam a huge hug. "I'm going to miss you." She said softly, trying hard not to cry.

Adam put his arms around her and squeezed her tightly. "I'm gonna miss you too." He said, swallowing hard in order to be the strong one. "But we'll call and write and visit. Everything will be great."

The duo separated enough for a goodbye kiss just as the airline attendant announced the final boarding call for Tanya's flight. "Goodbye everyone." Tanya said giving them a wave

The others called out their final goodbyes and watched as Tanya boarded the plane. The rangers stayed to support Adam as they watched the plane until it pulled out of the gate and headed for the runway. Once it was out of view the group slowly left.

* * *

Four of the five rangers plus Billy went to dinner after the plane left before going over to the DeSantos's residence for the final game of the Astros series against the Dodgers. Adam had declined to go out to dinner, and had declined to go watch the game. Rocky was worried about his best friend but the others assured him that he just needed time as his girlfriend had just taken off for the other side of the country.

He agreed that the others were right, and by the ninth inning of the baseball game Adam had been, for the moment, forgotten. The score was tied at zero and the rangers were at the edge of their seats to see who would win both the game and their side bet.

Carri crossed her arms and grinned. "Bases loaded. You guys are in trouble."

"Two outs. Worell versus Spires. Astros don't stand a chance." Rocky quickly defended his team.

"Rocky's right. The statistics" Billy stopped short as they watched Spires's bat make contact with the ball.

"Go, go, go." Carri chanted, pumping her fist as they watched the ball fly to the back of the stadium.

"It doesn't have the distance." Rocky said to himself as he held his breath.

"Keep going." Carri said as she slipped off the couch and crouched on the floor closer to the tv.

"Don't keep going." Rocky pleaded with the ball.

As it sailed over the fence Tommy groaned. "Oh no."

"Oh yes!" Carri countered as she sprung up and pumped her fists in the air. "Four to nothing. You guys are finished."

Billy sighed. "Well statistics are just probabilities. They're not always conclusive."

Carri snorted. "Please any stat that points against the Stros is off."

"Whatever." Rocky said grinning at her and rolling his eyes. "Your team just gets lucky."

"Lucky? It's skill my dear." Carri said smugly as she sat back down on the couch.

"Look he struck Ausmus out." Kat pointed out, ending the mini argument.

"I see. Now you decide to use the heater." Rocky whined. He glanced at the players coming up as the game went to commercial. "Well there's still hope. We've got Karros, Piazza and Gagne coming up."

"Against Billy Wagner? Not a chance." Carri said crossing her arms over her chest.

"Actually"

"I don't want to hear the statistics." Carri quickly cut Billy off before he could try and bring her down. "They don't matter we're gonna win."

A few moments later the game came back on, with Eric Karros up to bat. As Rocky started chanting Eric's name, Carri started her own chant of "K, K, K". Rocky tried to put his hand over her mouth but she slipped away from him, distancing herself from the Dodgers fans just in time to see Karros strike out.

"One down, two to go." Carri said sticking her tongue out.

"Mike won't let me down." Rocky assured her as he focused intently on the game. Two pitches later Piazza popped out to the second baseman. "How could you do this to me? You're my idol."

"If I was you I'd look up to someone talented. Maybe Jeff Bagwell. Or Craig Biggio." Carri said.

Rocky pretended not to hear her as he concentrated on the final batter. A few moments later, Gagne struck out, ending the game. Carri started jumping up and down and yelling in excitement before extending her hand out to collect her winnings from everyone.

Reluctantly those who had bet paid her. Carri grinned as she shoved the money into her pocket. "Teach you guys to be against the Astros."

"They just had an off week." Rocky assured her. "Any normal week you guys would've been destroyed."

"Rocky's right. After all statistically" Billy didn't get to finish as Carri cut him off yet again.

"The Astros rule and the Dodgers are at the bottom of the food chain." She finished for him.

Kat sighed. "Well next time I'm watching what team I bet on."

"Next time I'm just not betting." Tommy added. Baseball was fun to watch, but he just wasn't attached enough to any team to put money on them.

Rocky stood up and went to stand behind Carri. "You and I need to have a little talk on who to cheer for."

Carri raised an eyebrow. "Oh so you're converting?"

"No but I bet I can get you to." Rocky replied with a grin.

"Not in this lifetime." She said grinning back at him.

"Well why don't we go down to the beach and find out." Rocky suggested.

"Alright. You're on." Carri replied. Although she doubted just talking about baseball was all Rocky had in mind.

"Then let's go." Rocky said as he reached down to grab her hand. He glanced over at their friends as he led her to the door. "You guys can stay if you want. Just be out before I get back." He joked as he snatched his keys and led Carri out the front door.

Tommy watched them leave and shrugged. "Whatever." He said, surprised that they would just take off and leave the rest of them like that.

"I'm heading back to the Power Chamber. You guys want to come?" Billy asked. Seeing the looks the two rangers gave him he elaborated. "I'm working on some stuff for the zords. I'd like your input."

"Sounds good." Tommy said. He always wanted to be involved where things for the team were concerned.

"I'll join you." Kat added. She wasn't sure if she was really interested in the zord stuff, but she was always interested in spending time with Tommy.

"Good." Billy said as he teleported out, his two friends quickly teleporting behind him.

* * *

The next afternoon Kat and Carri found themselves in search of the male rangers after spending most of their day at the mall. While the guys tried to cheer Adam up the girls went shopping, with Carri well on her way to making good on her promise to change out her wardrobe.

By mid afternoon Carri had wore Kat out, and the two girls decided that the best place to look for the rest of the team would be the Youth Center. As they walked into their hangout, both girls pushed brand new sunglasses to the top of their heads and looked around. Rocky and Tommy were out on the mats, while Adam was sitting at a table by himself. Kat headed over to watch the boys while Carri decided to try and cheer Adam up.

"What's up?" She asked going to sit beside him at the table.

Adam looked up at her as though she had just snapped him out of a trance. "Oh, hey Carri."

"Cheer up. It's a new day." She said flashing him a smile.

Adam frowned. "There's not much to be cheerful about."

"What you didn't have fun with the guys today?" She asked.

"Yeah but"

"And today has been an awfully calm day." Carri cut in, not allowing him to make excuses.

"It has but"

Carri cut in one last time. "And all you little anti-Astros fans get to keep your ten bucks today."

That got a smile out of Adam. "I guess you're right."

"I know it's been kinda hard. You wanna talk about it?" Carri asked as she glanced over at him.

"No it's ok." Adam replied. Not that he didn't like his new teammate, but he hardly knew her and didn't really want to open up about how he was feeling to her.

"I'm a good listener." She said flashing him a smile. Although it took a certain kind of person to spill all to Carri. It was rare for her to sugarcoat something and not everyone could handle hearing her true opinion.

"Thanks for the offer." Adam said smiling back at her. "But I think I'm good. I talked to Rocky and Tommy earlier."

"Oh, ok." Carri said with a shrug. If he wasn't going to talk to her she couldn't force it. "I'm going to see how the boys are doing." She said as she walked away from the table and went to stand beside her cousin.

She arrived just in time to see Rocky take Tommy down. "Gotcha that time." He said triumphantly.

"We all get lucky." Tommy joked as Rocky helped him stand.

Carri clapped and cheered and both boys turned in her direction. Neither had seen Kat and Carri enter as they'd been so wrapped up in sparring. Rocky walked over to her and put his arms around her. "You must be my good luck charm."

"You'll need more than just a charm." Tommy called from the mats.

Rocky chuckled as he noticed the new sunglasses perched on top of Carri's head. He picked them up and put them on, grinning goofily at her. "What do you think?"

"You could pass in those." Carri said playfully rolling her eyes. "Maybe." She tossed in.

"I look great in everything I wear." Rocky complemented himself.

Carri snorted and snatched her sunglasses off his head. "I wouldn't go that far."

Rocky laughed. "Fine." He replied before changing the subject. "Where did you get those?"

"At the mall." She replied.

"You went to the mall today?" Rocky questioned.

She gave a little shrug. "Just for five hours."

"You seriously shopped at the mall for five hours?" Rocky couldn't stand going to the mall period, unless it was for a sports or electronics store. Even then he couldn't see spending one hour there, let alone five.

Tommy laughed at Rocky's reaction as he thought about his own girlfriend. Although he had a little bit of patience with her he usually sent her to the mall with other females as she could make a sport out of it. He sighed as he thought about how much he missed her since she's been in Florida. Pushing thoughts of Kim away he turned back toward Carri and Rocky's conversation.

"Yeah. It was a short trip but Kat was ready to go." Carri replied with a grin. She had yet to meet a guy who could keep up with her shopping habits and she didn't expect Rocky to. But it was always fun to see what kind of reactions she could get when she talked to guys about shopping.

Rocky made a face and glanced at Kat, who gave him a sympathetic smile. If he was going to date her cousin, he'd just have to get used to her insane shopping habits. Rocky simply shrugged in response. "Whatever."

"You ready to go again?" Tommy called out once he saw the conversation was done.

"Yeah." Rocky replied, giving Carri a quick kiss before jumping back onto the mats.

As the boys started sparring again Carri started blabbing to Kat. "Can you believe that sale I found? How awesome was that. I didn't think I could carry all those bags out. Of course that one outfit I bought almost cost as much as the three bags of clothes from the sale. Dad's probably gonna flip when he sees the statement this month. But he'll get over it. He always does. Besides Joshie's the one with the expensive video game habit." Carri paused then continued on. "And can you believe we ran into Bulk and Skull in the food court? Of all people."

Carri paused waiting for Kat to say something, anything, but her cousin was mute. "Are you even paying attention to me?" she asked as she crossed her arms and huffed. When Kat still didn't reply she turned to face her and quickly noticed her attention was definitely elsewhere. Following her gaze she landed on the red ranger. "Maybe someday." Carri whispered into her cousins ear, finally gaining her attention.

Startled Kat turned away from Tommy and glanced over at her cousin, who by that time had turned all her attention toward Rocky. Kat let out a sigh. She didn't realize how obvious she was being. She was really into Tommy and it was hard. She didn't want to betray her predecessor, but from the moment she laid her eyes on him she fantasized about being his girlfriend. For now she'd just have to smile and pretend she wasn't interested.

Both girls were silent except for the occasional cheer as they stood there and watched the boys spar. After ten minutes, Rocky was laying on his back and Tommy was the one triumphant. "Good try." Tommy said as he pulled Rocky up.

"Next time." Rocky replied with a smile as he walked over toward Carri. He went to put his arm around her but she put her hand out and pushed him back.

"You are ten times sweatier now than you were ten minutes ago. Go take a shower then we'll talk." Carri said firmly before grinning at him.

"Sorry." Rocky said grinning sheepishly as he glanced over at the clock. "I need to shower and go anyway. I have to be at work in a half hour."

"Ok. Talk to you later?" Carri questioned.

"Of course." Rocky replied, giving her a kiss before taking off to get ready.

Carri looked around, noticing that Kat and Tommy made their way over toward Adam's table. She walked over and stood in between the two ranger boys. "Let's go to the beach." She hadn't been able to swim or tan she'd been back in California and she was dying to go.

"Why?" Kat asked grinning at her. She knew her boyfriend had just taken off to go to work and she suspected that had something to do with it.

"Because the beaches here have two things New York could never offer." Carri replied.

"Rocky and?" Tommy said grinning at her.

Carri swatted his shoulder as she made a face. "Sun and surf. Let's go grab the surfboards and spend the rest of the afternoon out there."

"Sure. Sounds like fun." Kat was the first to jump on board.

Tommy shrugged. "Why not." He said before glancing over at the green ranger. "You in?"

"I don't know." Adam replied. He was still sulking and he wasn't sure if he was ready to get out and enjoy himself.

"Come on. A little bit of sun, playing on the beach, it's just want the doctor ordered." Carri attempted to coax him into going.

"Well," Adam paused as he thought about it, "ok I'm in." It might be fun for him to get out for a while and it may help him feel better.

"Great so let's go grab our stuff." Carri said as she headed for the door and gestured for the others to follow her.

* * *

Just before four thirty that afternoon, Tommy's jeep pulled up into a parking space near the public access to the beach. The group of four jumped out of the car, pulling all their beach belongings along with them.

Tommy led them all down to the beach and walked them around until he found what he claimed to be the perfect spot. They sat their things down as Carri checked the area out. "What's so special about right here?"

"Volleyball." Tommy replied, gesturing to the net. "You do play don't you?"

"Duh." Carri said rolling her eyes. Any girl who spent most of her life on the beach has played more than a few beach volleyball games. "You bring a ball?"

"We'll have to get one from the lifeguard." Tommy said as he gestured back toward the lifeguard station.

"You guys want to play?" Adam asked looking at the other three in the group.

"Of course." Kat replied.

"I'll grab a ball." Carri said as she jogged over toward the lifeguard tower. She walked up the tower ramp and peeked in to see the lifeguard on duty. "Excuse me."

The blond haired, blue eyed lifeguard looked up and smiled at her. "Can I help you?"

"I sure hope so." Carri replied with a grin as she checked him out. She couldn't help but notice his tan, sculpted body. Although she was in a relationship, it never hurt to look. "My friends and I wanted to play volleyball."

The lifeguard reached over and grabbed the ball, extending it out to her. As she reached out to grab it, he yanked it back. "Can I trust you with our sacred volleyball?" he joked.

"I'll guard it with my life." She assured him, catching the ball as he tossed it to her before turning to head back down to the beach. Upon exiting the tower she ran right into Rocky.

"Hey. What are you doing here?" he asked, surprised to see his girlfriend standing before him.

"Me and the gang came for a little fun in the sun." She said with a smile as she pointed down toward the other rangers.

"Awesome." Rocky replied, grinning at the thought of watching his girlfriend run around the beach in a bikini. He glanced briefly at the volleyball in her hands. "You any good?"

She gave him a smug smile. "That's for me to know, and you to find out."

Rocky raised an eyebrow at her and grinned as the lifeguard she got the ball from approached them. "You going down to the beach?" he asked.

"Not until you introduce me to this lovely lady you're talking to." His coworker replied.

"This is my girlfriend Carri." Rocky said pointing at her. "And Carri, this is Cody. We've been working together for almost two years now."

"Nice meeting you." Carri said as she shook his hand.

"You too." Cody replied before turning toward Rocky. "I'm heading down that way. I'll be back."

"Later." Rocky said as he watched his friend jog off.

"Well," Carri started holding up the volleyball, "I was only supposed to be up here long enough to grab this so..."

"I'll let you go before Tommy has Alpha scanning for you." Rocky said with a grin as he gave her a kiss. "We'll talk later."

"Of course." She replied as she jogged back down to the beach and headed for her friends.

"What took you so long?" Tommy asked giving her a look as she approached.

"Rocky's up there. I was saying hello." She defended herself as she scrunched her face up.

"Rocky's here?" Kat questioned.

Carri nodded. "Didn't you guys see him walk in?"

"Nope." Adam replied.

"Hopeless." Carri teased as she sighed.

Tommy held his hands out as she tossed over the ball. "Since we're all so hopeless you want to play three on one?"

Carri made a face. "I mean I can handle it but..."

"I'll play with her." Adam said as though it was the worst thing he'd ever committed to.

"You won't be sorry." Carri promised as she and Adam took one side of the net while Kat and Tommy slipped to the other. Tommy tossed the ball into the air and the game began.

* * *

An hour later Carri found herself leaping in the air to spike the ball over the net, watching as Kat and Tommy dove and missed. "And that would be the winning point." She said as she went to high five Adam.

Tommy sat up in the sand making a pathetic, defeated face. Carri stuck out her lower lip. "Aw poor Tommy."

"Well if he could just play better." Adam joked, his spirits lifting from the funk he'd been in since Tanya left.

"Aw shut up." Tommy said as he and Kat stood.

Kat thought for a moment, trying to come up with a good excuse. "We, we... we let you win."

"Whatever." Carri said as Adam grinned at her and she giggled.

From behind them they heard clapping, and the foursome turned to see Rocky standing there. "Way to go." He called down to his best friend and girlfriend.

"You are just going to pretend that never happened." Tommy yelled back at him.

Rocky laughed. "Too late I saw it."

"Shouldn't you be working?" Tommy asked as Rocky simply shook his head and turned his eyes back toward the water.

Carri's eyes went toward the water as well before she glanced back at Kat. "Waves look good. You wanna go out?"

"Absolutely." Kat said. Both girls grabbed their boards and headed toward the water, with two pairs of eyes intently following them.

Adam and Tommy watched for a while as they took turns riding waves and trying to pull tricks. When they were both finally exhausted they headed back to find the boys clapping for them. "I didn't know you guys were that good." Tommy said. He'd never seen Kat surf before.

Kat blushed as she shrugged. "Well, you know, we both grew up near the water."

"Have you ever competed?" Adam asked out of curiosity.

"A loooong time ago." Carri replied.

Kat nodded before she elaborated. "In Australia. We were both pretty good at it. I quit competing around thirteen to concentrate on diving." She said glancing at her cousin. "And you quit the same year for baseball?"

"Year before." Carri replied. She loved surfing in competitions with her cousin when they were younger but it always interfered with playoffs. She wasn't as good at surfing, she just did it for fun so she decided to quit to make sure she could focus on baseball. Unfortunately her next year was her final year playing baseball before her parents moved her to New York.

"You played baseball or softball?" Adam questioned, eyebrow raised.

Carri glanced at him briefly. He wasn't the first guy to question semantics when someone said she played baseball. "Baseball. I pitched some. Little league. I had to quit after my first year in the junior division."

"Wow." Adam said as Carri shrugged.

"I think I'm going to tan for a while." She quickly changed subjects.

"Me too." Kat chimed in as she and Carri laid down on their beach blankets.

"You want to play some?" Tommy asked, gesturing toward the net.

"Sure." Adam replied. He glanced over at the girls, who had quickly shut their eyes. He was curious about the whole baseball thing but he let it slide as he went to the net to play volleyball with Tommy.

* * *

Carri laid on her back for twenty minutes before flipping over to her stomach and dozing off. Fifteen minutes after she fell asleep her communicator jolted her awake. "Crap." she said as she looked up and sighed. "And I thought we were going to have a day of peace."

Slowly she stood and walked with Kat to join Tommy and Adam in a secure location. "What are we waiting for?" Kat asked as Tommy hesitated to answer his communicator.

"Rocky." He replied.

As if on cue the blue ranger appeared. "Sorry. I had to get someone to cover for me."

"It's ok." Tommy said as he glanced at the others. "Go ahead Alpha."

"King Mondo has sent OctoMan and Cogs into the park." Alpha informed them.

"We're on our way." Tommy said before quickly thrusting his arms down by his side. "It's morphin time!"

"Zeo ranger one, pink!"

"Zeo ranger two, yellow!"

"Zeo ranger three, blue!"

"Zeo ranger four, green!"

"Zeo ranger five, red!"

And with that the set of new rangers and new friends were off to save the world.


	2. Best in the Bigs

**Disclaimer:** The rangers and all other known characters belong to Saban, everyone else is mine.  
**Author's Notes:** This is the first appearance of this fic on this website.  
As far as this story (and the series) following cannon goes, "A Zeo Beginning" parts 1 and 2 happen as is right after their junior year ends, and I essentially ignored the next few Zeo episodes. In my AU, Adam and Tanya start dating shortly thereafter and she leaves the team at the beginning of their senior year (having been a ranger for a little less than three months). "Best In The Bigs" is essentially my version of "Rangers In The Outfield", as after I saw the original I thought it was essentially unbelievable and I thought I'd write it a little differently. The story takes place at the beginning of September during the rangers senior year.  
Ranger Scrolls assumes that after "Rangers In The Outfield" the storyline essentially follows cannon up until the rangers graduation, with a few exceptions. The obvious is that the episode storylines would be a little different, mostly where things about the yellow ranger were concerned as I had Carri in yellow. For example, "Song Sung Yellow" is essentially scrapped and Auric would have been discovered a lot differently. The stories that are told in the Ranger Scrolls series are meant to be adventures inserted into the Zeo timeline.  
Last note, if you have read the original "Best in the Bigs" and notice the monsters name has changed there is a good reason. I didn't realize this when I wrote "Two Loves" but that monster is sort of a bigger than usual monster who shares the same name as the monster from this story. And since the monster name in "Two Loves" was a collaborative effort, I decided to change the name here that way I didn't repeat myself.

Ranger Scrolls  
"Best in the Bigs"

Carri Hillard was not a morning person. Her alarm started going off and she lifted one eyelid to look at the big red numbers which alerted her that it was merely six am. She reached over and slapped her alarm clock, accidentally turning it off as she threw the pillow over her head and went back to sleep. At least she claimed it was an accident.

In the room next door Carri's cousin Katherine was waking up just as Carri was drifting back off. As any usual morning, Kat got up and took her time in the shower before getting dressed and ready to face another school day. As she finished getting ready she looked at the clock, satisfied that she still had fifteen minutes to spare. Walking out of her room she realized Carri's door was still shut. She hoped her cousin was still getting ready but by now she knew better.

Standing with one hand on her hip Kat knocked loudly on her door. When there was no answer Kat knocked again, this time calling her cousins name. She received a muffled go away in reply. Kat made an agitated noise as she yelled through the door. "Come on its six fifty. If you don't get moving we're going to be late."

Carri sat straight up and looked over at her alarm clock. She swore loudly as she jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom. She had to take a quick shower and wasn't even allowed the time to enjoy the warm water. Like every other morning she woke up late she had to fly so fast she didn't know what she was doing.

Quickly she got dressed, pausing to fiddle with her hair before realizing it wasn't worth it. She took a moment to part it and slip a yellow clip on each side before glancing at the time. It was seven oh-five and Kat was going to kill her.

She grabbed her backpack and flew downstairs, only pausing long enough to grab a bagel and a single serve bottle of orange juice before flying outside where Kat and Tommy were waiting in Tommy's car. Quickly she climbed in and greeted the team's red ranger. "Hey Tommy. Thanks for coming to get us." Both girls typically walked to school and neither had a parking permit, although it was something they should look into for days like this.

"Are you ever going to learn?" Tommy teased as she buckled her seatbelt and he pulled out of the driveway.

Carri snorted. "How about that. Oliver's making fun of my tardiness." She said, catching his grin in the rearview mirror. Tommy didn't reply, he really didn't have anything to say in his own defense. Instead he turned the radio on as they barreled toward Angel Grove High School.

* * *

After having to rush into her first period class, Carri took her time making it to her second period history. She slipped into the classroom as the minute bell rang, heading over to her usual seat by Rocky and Tommy while ignoring the looks they were giving her.

"Again?" Rocky teased as he slipped his arm around her.

Carri shrugged. "No comment." She said as she gave him a sly smile before turning to Tommy. "Am I to assume you told everyone?"

"Now that Rocky and Adam know that would pretty much make everyone." Although Carri was usually on time to anything that happened after eleven in the morning he liked when he could point out that he wasn't the only one on the team who could run late.

Carri put a hand on Rocky's arm, which was still firmly rooted to her shoulder. The final bell rang and the duo separated from each other just as Jennifer Bostic came over the PA with the morning announcements. "Good morning Angel Grove High. If I could have your attention, it's time for the morning announcements."

"Yay." Carri said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes and grinned. She wasn't that fond of Jennifer, and there were a lot of people in her class who shared her opinion. She was quite the stuck up snob and nobody wanted to listen to her voice every morning. But as she was the one Mr. Caplan handpicked to do the announcements, they didn't have much choice.

"Attention all baseball players. Tryouts for the spring squad will begin tomorrow and fall practices will start shortly after that." Jennifer's annoyingly perky voice couldn't hide the fact that she was reading straight from a card.

Rocky leaned over to Carri. "You will be there right?" he whispered. He'd love to have her come support him for tryouts. Even though there was no doubt he'd make the team again that didn't mean he wouldn't love her support.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." She replied with a grin.

Jennifer continued on. "The German Club will be holding a meeting today after school. All members must attend. The Debate Team will be competing tomorrow in San Francisco. Please come support them."

"Not in San Francisco." Tommy replied as though Jennifer could hear him.

"And just a reminder the football team is at home tonight. We're going for our third straight win so come show your support. That's all the announcements for this morning. Thank you." She finished and the static of the PA cut off.

As the announcements came to a close there were murmurs throughout the classroom about subjects ranging from the football team to tryouts to Jennifer herself. Finally their history teacher stood up and put a stop to it before diving into his forty five minute lecture on eastern European history.

* * *

The day went on as usual, and just like every afternoon prior to that one the ranger team headed to the Youth Center once the final bell had rang. As the gang trickled in they sat at their usual table, and after the "hello's" and "what's ups" the chatter amongst them quickly started.

"I'm hungry." Rocky was the first of the group to strike up some sort of conversation.

Carri snorted. "What else is new?" She teased her boyfriend. That boy packed away more than anybody she'd ever seen. How he managed to stay so skinny remained a mystery to her.

"I'm going to go get something to eat." Rocky continued, ignoring her comment. "You want anything?"

"Nope." Carri replied, watching as her boyfriend got up and headed over to the counter. As he started talking to Ernie she turned her focus back to the group.

"Anybody coming to watch tryouts tomorrow?" Adam questioned. He was curious to know if anyone would make it. Although he and Rocky were practically guaranteed spots on the team, it would still be nice to have the support of his friends.

Carri grinned at him. "I'll be there."

"You're just coming to cheer on your boyfriend." Adam pointed out.

Carri shrugged. "Well if I think about it I can manage the occasional go Adam." She made eye contact with him for a moment before grinning, indicating that she would certainly support him as well.

"What about you guys?" Adam asked, glancing over at Tommy and Kat.

Tommy shook his head no. "I haven't started my English paper yet."

"Seriously?" Carri questioned, raising an eyebrow at him as he nodded. "A ten page paper due Monday and you haven't started it?"

Tommy crossed his arms over his chest as Rocky came back over and sat down. "Well I've been meaning to. I just haven't had time yet." He defended himself.

"Had time to what?" Rocky asked, trying to catch himself up.

"Start his English paper." Carri filled him in as she shook her head at the team's leader.

"Seriously?" Rocky repeated his girlfriend's reaction from earlier. "You need to get going on that."

"I know, I know." Tommy replied. He did not want to hear any more from the duo about his English paper, so he turned toward Kat and changed the subject. "What about you, are you going?"

"I can't." Kat said apologetically. "I have a dance seminar in the morning."

Adam shook his head. "Well if I knew you'd both have plans I would have filled you in on this year's tryouts last year."

"Don't worry, I can cheer enough to make up for both of them." Carri assured him. She was, after all, a former cheerleader. Although that wasn't a fact she planned on sharing any time soon because despite the fact that she was a varsity co-captain as a junior, she wasn't very proud of those years.

"Speaking of cheering." Tommy started as a thought came to mind. "Are you guys going to the football game?"

"What about your paper?" Carri questioned raising an eyebrow.

"I'm starting it tomorrow." Tommy said before jumping back to the game. "This is huge for Angel Grove. I'm going to the game, you guys should come."

"I'm in." Kat quickly replied. No matter how taken he was, she appreciated any chance to hang out with Tommy. It didn't matter in the least that she didn't know anything about football. At least she didn't know anything about American football. Where she came from football was a totally different sport. As she'd enrolled after the high school football season last year, this would be her first American football game.

"Me too." Carri agreed. She had yet to go to an Angel Grove football game. It was going to be nice to cheer for her home team. Especially since she didn't have to spend the whole time in a short skirt and tiny top, waving pompoms around.

Rocky sat back and put his arm around his girlfriend. "It should be fun." He said as his way of agreeing to attend.

"We still have to be at the field at eight thirty." Adam pointed out. It was going to be an early morning and a long day and he wanted to get a good night's sleep. But he still wanted to support his school. "But I wouldn't want to miss the football game.

"Great then we'll all go." Tommy replied enthusiastically as the rangers communicators went off. With that one simple sound the mood of the table shifted, the group immediately going into ranger mode as they stood up and went to find a safe place to respond.

"Go ahead." Tommy spoke into his communicator once they were out of sight.

"The cogs are in the junkyard. It appears as though they're looking for something." Alpha informed them.

"Alright. We're on our way." Tommy replied. He looked around at the others before shifting his stance. "It's morphin time!" He called out as the rangers morphed and teleported to the scene.

* * *

As the rangers arrived the Cogs managed to find what they were looking for. Picking the item up, they turned to face the team and took a defensive stance.

Tommy glared them down. "I don't know what you think you've got there but we're not letting you keep it."

The Cogs quickly advanced toward the rangers. They fought for a while before the rangers appeared to have the upper hand. In order to protect the item they were sent to receive, the Cogs backed off and regrouped before heading back to King Mondo.

"Well that was no fun." Carri commented. She'd hope they'd stick around long enough for them to smash and trash them.

"Something wasn't right about that." Rocky pointed out.

"I agree." Tommy said with a nod. "Let's go see what Zordon knows." He said as he led the team in teleporting out.

* * *

"I don't get it." Kat said as they all arrived and powered down. "What's so special about stuff in the junkyard?"

"There's no logical explanation." Billy explained as he glanced over at his friends. "What they grabbed had no more worth than any of the other discarded items down there. It must be a part of something."

"Billy is right." Zordon spoke. "I am afraid all we can do now is sit and wait."

Tommy shook his head. "I don't like this." He said. As the leader of the rangers he wanted to know what was going on, to have some sort of strategy.

"Nor do I Tommy." Zordon assured him. "But we do not have any other choice. Without knowing King Mondo's intentions there is nothing we can do."

"So we just go on as usual?" Adam questioned, although he was pretty sure he knew what the answer was.

Zordon confirmed Adam's assumption as Alpha put his robotic hands on his head. "Aye ai ai!"

Carri put a hand on the robot. "Whatever it is, we'll take care of it."

Rocky glanced down at his watch. "We've got an hour until the game." He pointed out as the others glanced toward him. "You guys want to get out of here?"

The team agreed to go get ready for football, and after saying their goodbyes to Billy they took off.

* * *

A few hours later they were sitting in the stands of their high school football stadium, screaming and cheering their team on. As their running back got the ball and broke through, the screams of the stadium got louder until he reached the end zone.

"Touchdown!" Carri yelled as she pumped her fists in the air.

"For a minute there I didn't think he was going to make it." Adam said. They had watched the defenders get close, but out in the open field their star running back was hard to catch.

Rocky nodded in agreement. "Now if we can just hold them." He said glancing at the game clock. There was just under two minutes to go in the fourth quarter. He watched the kickoff, cheering as the other team was pushed back behind the five yard line before they were brought down. "It would take a miracle for them to win now."

Carri shook her head. "Technically there's still time for a miracle." She pointed out. She'd seen her ex-boyfriend bring their team back from a similar situation.

They continued to watch the visiting Panthers play. The opposition managed to march their way down to the forty seven yard line with just under thirty seconds to go, making all in the stands nervous. The quarterback got the snap and stepped back, with some in the stands hardly able to watch.

The ball sailed through the air and was caught. "We picked it off!" Adam yelled out what everyone had witnessed.

The crowd continued to roar as the offence took the field and immediately took a knee. "How about that." Carri said with a yelp of excitement as the clock wound down.

As the clock hit zero the crowd got so loud that no one could hear themselves think. It had been a long time since Angel Grove's football team had a three game winning streak and they were proud. Everyone was hoping the momentum would carry as next week's game was against rivals Stone Canyon.

Crowd noise started to die down and the rangers could finally speak to each other again. "We need to get going." Adam said glancing over at Rocky. It was getting close to eleven and if either wanted to be alert in the morning they'd have to head home.

"You're right." Rocky replied as he leaned over and gave his girlfriend a kiss. "See you tomorrow?"

"Of course." She replied as the others said their goodbyes and Rocky and Adam took off.

When they were out of sight Tommy glanced over at the girls. "You want to go to the Youth Center?" He asked. Ernie always attended the football games and after a win he'd open up for a while to allow the students and players a chance to celebrate.

"Absolutely." Carri was the first to agree as Kat just smiled and nodded. With that the remaining three rangers took off and went to enjoy some more of their Friday night.

* * *

The next morning Rocky and Adam found themselves on the baseball field watching their coach audition pitchers. Rocky continuously glanced down at his watch. "I wonder where Carri is. I told her to be here by nine."

"You know her. She's probably still in bed." Adam said in an attempt to offer Rocky some assurance. "Besides it's not like she's missing anything."

Rocky snorted. "I know. We're going to be in trouble if we don't get a pitcher."

"Who do you think is going to get the starting spot?" Adam asked as he glanced over at the candidates.

"With a little luck, none of them." Rocky joked. "Kevin is probably the best but my four year old sister could get a piece of his fastball."

"Alright boys listen up!" yelled Coach Anderson, abruptly ending their conversation. "This is what we're going to do. Kevin, who as of now will be our starter, is going to try out his best stuff against Shawn. If you are out in the field you will play the balls as if this were a real game."

Assuming Kevin can get a few over the plate, he silently added to himself. "Alright first through third will be… Norris, Fink, Wilkinson and Littrell. Left through right will be Madison, Dye and… Rocky come here for a second."

"Yes sir?" Rocky questioned as he walked over to the coach.

"I don't have a rookie for right. You stand out there for now. Don't worry about trying, I'll deal with the boys from last year's squad later." The coach said in a low voice so he wouldn't be overheard.

Rocky nodded before jogging back and grabbing his glove, then trotting out to right field. As he approached his position the coach turned to look at the rest of the players. "The catcher will stay the same." He said as some of his players stood around and traced shapes with their feet in the dirt. "Let's get moving!" He ordered.

Everyone got into their positions, with those not playing leaning against the back of the fence. Five pitches into the exercise Carri finally showed up. Looking around she noticed mostly parents sitting in the stands watching. Not wanting to sit with them she headed over toward the fence behind home plate to lean and watch. As she got closer she noticed Adam and she went to stand behind him.

"Hey." She greeted as she approached the fence.

Adam turned around to face his teammate. "Good of you to show up."

"About that. You see, my alarm was set for seven thirty. And, well…" Carri's voice trailed off as she simply shrugged her shoulders.

Adam couldn't help but laugh. "I would comment but I'll leave that for Rocky."

"Speaking of Rocky, where is he?" Carri asked, surprised that he wasn't standing by Adam's side.

"Out in right field." Adam said as he turned back long enough to point in Rocky's direction.

"Oh I didn't see him out there." Carri replied as she followed his finger. "I was too busy watching the pitcher get yelled at. Who is this idiot and why is he on the mound?"

"Kevin Brown. He's our best pitcher." Adam replied watching as she cocked her head and looked at him curiously. Kevin Brown was the name of a decent major league pitcher. "And before you say anything, the name is just a coincidence. He has to throw about twenty miles per hour for his pitches to make it safely into the strike zone."

As Adam spoke Kevin let one of his wilder pitches go. "Look out!" Carri exclaimed, leaning over the fence to grab the ball before it whacked Adam in the side of the head. "I see what you mean."

"Thanks." Adam said as he shook his head. They were definitely in serious trouble this year.

"Hey girl!" Coach Anderson called, looking directly at Carri. "Throw that ball back."

"Girl?" Carri questioned raising an eyebrow. She made a face. If he wanted her to throw the ball to him, she'd throw it. Rearing back she mustered all the force that she could into a fastball aimed directly at his chest.

The ball zinged past everyone on the field and Coach Anderson caught it with his bare hands before immediately dropping it on the floor and shaking his hand out. Carri crossed her arms over her chest and gave a triumphant smile. "What do you know I've still got it."

Adam's jaw dropped. "Wow you're pretty good at this."

"I told you I played." She said with a shrug.

"Hey you!" Coach Anderson yelled in their direction. Adam and Carri both looked at him. "Come here."

Adam jogged toward his coach before he was quickly stopped. "Not you, her."

"Me?" Carri questioned as the coach nodded his head yes. Carri went around the fence and entered the field before jogging over toward the pitcher's mound. "Yes?"

Coach Anderson looked her over. He never thought of girls as being able to play baseball, but he didn't have many options so he figured what the hell. "That was a good fifty, sixty miles an hour. You ever played before?"

"A few years ago. Little league." She replied. She was starting to get rather curious as to what this was all about.

Coach ushered Kevin off the mound. "Why don't you throw one?" He asked as he offered her the ball.

Carri shrugged as she took the ball from him and stood on the mound. It had been a long time but what could it hurt. Ignoring Kevin's snide comments she bent over, putting the hand holding the ball behind her back and rolling it around in her palm. A few awkward moments went by with no one doing anything and Carri yelled down at the catcher. "You gonna give me a sign or what?"

Kevin snickered from beside her. "You don't even know what signs are for."

Trying her best to keep her temper in check she ignored Kevin and watched as the catcher put a single finger down. Carri nodded her head and reached back before slamming one in there, watching as Shawn swung and missed. "For my first fastball in a few years that's not so bad."

The team stood there staring at her with blank looks on their faces. Even Rocky and Adam, who knew she played, were quite baffled. "Do that again." Coach said.

"Sure." Carri replied as she held out her hands and the catcher tossed her the ball. Taking the sign for the fastball she drew her arm back and hurled another one toward the plate, this one much better than the first. Shawn didn't attempt to swing at the second pitch, he just stared at her.

Coach Anderson stood there for a minute, trying to shake off the last of his amazement. "Can you pitch anything else?"

"Well…" Carri said as she thought about it. "My curveball is ok, so is my slider. My changeup is decent. I used to have a breaking ball but," she paused and snorted, "doubt I can throw that now."

"Let's get her a glove. I want to see the other three." The coach said as one of his players hustled off to grab an extra glove. He returned and handed it to the coach who passed it on to Carri. "Shawn I want you to try and hit off of her."

Carri took the signs from the catcher and threw each of her three pitches. The curveball and the slider were both chopped foul down the sidelines while the changeup was popped up to the shortstop. Coach Anderson nodded in approval. "Not bad. But can you bat?"

Carri looked at him as though he'd just asked her if the sky was blue. Before she could respond Kevin made another smart comment. "The girl can't bat."

"My name is Carri." She snapped glaring at him. "And I can bat." With a huff she turned and marched to the plate, tossing the glove aside in the dirt and taking the bat and helmet from Shawn. Setting herself she glared at Kevin. "Question is, can you pitch?"

Anger settling in Kevin hurled one toward her that was high and way out of the strike zone. Carri gave him a smug look. "If you're gonna miss so bad do it low. I like to fish."

Granting her wish Kevin intentionally threw one toward the dirt. Carri extended her arms out and with a crack the ball sailed into the gap between center and right. "Well what do you know. I'd say that's at least a double."

Kevin frowned as he proceeded to throw her ten more pitches. Four were solid hits, two were misses, and the other four were popped or grounded out. Coach nodded for a second before asking Carri to come pitch to Shawn for a while and sending Kevin to sit on the bench. Carri arrived on the mound and turned in time to see Kevin slam his glove down on the bench before sitting.

For the next half an hour Carri stood on the mound and pitched to Shawn. They worked well, with three fourths of Carri's pitches being strikes and Shawn getting a piece of half of them. Toward the end of the exercise Shawn was managing to hit Carri's thirty mile per hour pitches no farther than the infield, and both were clearly wearing out.

"Alright that's good enough." The coach said as he was becoming aware of their fatigue. "Adam why don't you come over and bat and Cory, you pitch."

As Carri started to trot off the mound the coach stopped her. "How would you like to be our starting pitcher?" he asked. Never in a million years did he ever think he'd ask a girl to pitch. But he couldn't deny the fact that she was not only better than the others auditioning but that she was actually good.

Carri cocked her head and looked at him. Out of all the things that might happen to her that day this certainly wasn't on the list. "Give me a bit to think it over."

"Fair enough." Coach Anderson replied. "Why don't you go hang on the bench."

"Sure." Carri said as she jogged off, pausing long enough to slap Adam's outstretched hand as she passed him. As she approached the dugout she caught up to Shawn and they walked to the bench together.

"I've never missed a pitch by a girl before." Shawn said as she walked in stride with him. To be perfectly honest he didn't know how he felt about it. Guys didn't usually miss pitches from girls but she was good.

"There's a first for everything." Carri said with a smile.

"Well I'm sure I won't be the only guy with that problem." He paused as he turned to look at her. "I'm Shawn." He said, extending his hand as he officially introduced himself.

"Carri." She replied taking the outstretched hand. The duo entered the dugout and sat down on the bench together, making sure to stay on the opposite end of a fuming Kevin.

As the action continued on the field Carri sat making small talk with Shawn and watching. She was debating on whether or not to join the team. There were a lot of pros and cons for joining and she was doing her best to quickly sort them out and make a decision. As the action on the field came to a conclusion the coach called everyone in to regroup them quickly. Shawn jogged out onto the field and as he left Kevin took that as an opportunity to approach her.

"I'm not about to lose my starting position to a girl." Kevin said as he hovered over her and crossed his arms.

Carri smirked. "Sucks for you because it looks like you already have." She replied glancing up at him from her seat on the bench.

"I wouldn't join the team if I was you. Wouldn't want you to get hurt by one of us big strong guys." Kevin said, grasping quickly at anything he thought he could come up with to secure his spot on the team.

"Good thing you're not me." Carri said, not able to believe that he was actually going to stand there and threaten her. Of course he didn't frighten her at all and she was going to make sure he knew that. "And for the record, none of you big strong guys scare me."

Kevin made a grunting noise, quickly getting frustrated with her attitude and her unwillingness to stand and talk face to face. "Do you mind standing up when I talk to you? I feel like I'm chewing out my little sister."

Standing, Carri rolled her eyes and gave him a look. "Better?"

"Much. Now where was I?" Kevin said, glaring at her as he collected his thoughts. "I got it. We were discussing reasons you don't want to be on the team followed by reasons we should frighten you."

In an attempt to keep from doing something stupid, Carri tuned him out and concentrated on blowing bubbles with the gum she'd been working on. Kevin muttered a few obscenities and Carri started rambling just to annoy him more. "Whoever invented bubble gum is a genius. Especially the guy who made watermelon Bubble Yum. The little rectangles are red and green and even look like watermelons. And"

"Shut up!" Kevin yelled, abruptly cutting her off. Without thinking with his left hand he leaned over and grabbed a hold of her shirt.

"Do you mind? I'm not in any mood to iron this shirt." Carri said. She was more concerned about wardrobe damage than anything Kevin thought he was threatening her with.

Kevin raised his right hand like he was going to hit her, then quickly put it down. "What are you going to do now, hit me?" Carri asked. She watched as he raised his hand once more, clinching his fist before cursing and putting it down. Tired of all the hand movements, Carri took her hand and grabbed his left arm, twisting it so he'd let go of her shirt.

"Hey!" Kevin exclaimed, startled as he jerked his arm back.

Carri gave him a little smile. "My bad." She said as she sat back down on the bench.

She had pushed his last button. He was so angry she could almost see the smoke coming out of his ears. Although she was still surprised with what came next. Kevin grabbed a hold of her arm and yanked her up, rearing his fist back and for the first time since this fiasco began, Carri knew he was going to hit her.

He swung his arm forward and as his fist was nearing Carri's face, Rocky came out of nowhere and grabbed his arm, pulling it back. "You had better be glad coach is over there or you could kiss this team goodbye." He said as he pushed Kevin back away from Carri. He had a half a mind to run and grab the coach but Carri seemed ok besides the shock and he figured if she wasn't going to pursue it he wouldn't either.

Kevin gave Rocky a look before turning and walking away. The blue ranger didn't let him get too far before he called his attention. "One more thing." Rocky yelled after him as Kevin stopped to turn in his direction. Rocky took a few steps toward him to make sure what he was about to say stayed between them. "If you ever raise a hand to her again you won't live long enough to regret it."

Rocky stood there as Kevin turned around and continued to make his way to the opposite end of the bench, cursing and kicking dirt as he went. The blue ranger took a deep breath. He had never threatened anyone before but he had to make it absolutely clear that his girlfriend was not going to be on the wrong end of Kevin's fist. And with someone like Kevin that was how you got a point across.

Turning Rocky headed back toward Carri, who had already taken a seat on the bench. He wasted no time joining her. "I can't believe that jerk was about to hit you."

"Actually I was kind of hoping he would." Carri replied as a sly smile crossed her face.

"Huh?" Rocky asked, genuinely confused.

"It's the law." Carri said simply as Rocky looked more confused than before. She went on to elaborated. "If I hit him, there's legal action that can be taken against me not to mention suspension or expulsion from school. If he hits me first, me kicking the crap out of him would become self defense. And I would have kicked the crap out of him."

Rocky laughed as he leaned back and put an arm around Carri. "Alright I can go along with your logic."

"You know what?" Carri said, crossing her arms as a smug smile appeared across her face. Rocky cocked his head and looked at her curiously. "I think I'm going to join the team." As much fun as she thought it would be she was uncertain before. But adding "just to spite Kevin" to the list of pros was just too tempting to resist.

"That's awesome!" Rocky exclaimed. Although it was certainly going to be weird. Excluding gym he'd never played ball with a girl before, let alone one that was his girlfriend.

"Hang here, I'll go tell Coach." Carri said as she stood. She walked over toward the coach and told him of her decision. He promptly led her back to the dugout where he handed her the standard forms for high school baseball participation. Thanking him, she took the forms and headed back to her seat beside her boyfriend while the coach headed back out onto the field.

Rocky grinned goofily at her as she sat down. "Just out of curiosity, where were you this morning?" He had a good idea what the answer was, he just wanted to hear her say it so he could tease her for it.

"Well…." Carri started, her voice trailing off. Momentarily she thought about coming up with some sort of elaborate story to hide the fact that she simply couldn't get out of bed. When she decided it was too much effort to figure something out, she told the truth. "I swear I set my alarm for seven thirty and I think it went off then but honestly setting the alarm is last thing I remember until I wacked my arm on the nightstand and woke myself up."

"That's two days in a row you know." Rocky tried to sound serious, but the look on his face was anything but. "You're going to have to work on that. What happens when you get a job and you've got to be there at eight?"

Carri snorted and rolled her eyes. Like she was really the nine to five kinda gal. "Sorry about missing the beginning of practice."

"It's ok. You didn't miss much. Just Kevin getting yelled at." Rocky assured her. He looked over at her and she smiled. She had managed to be there to catch some of that. As she went to start filling out her forms, Rocky continued. "You're really good at pitching. I had no clue you were that talented. I mean I know you said you played when you were younger, but still."

"Thanks." Carri replied before he could continue on his rambling. She knew what he meant. She shook her head as she worked on filling out the form. "Kat's gonna die when she hears I made the team."

Rocky didn't comment as he put his arm around her and peaked down at her paper. "Hillard, Carri L. What's the L stand for?" He asked as he read her name aloud. He was surprised it wasn't something he'd asked before. But then again they'd only been dating a few weeks.

"Lauren." She said simply before going to elaborate. "My dad wanted to name me Laruen and my mom wanted Carri so they compromised. He picked how they were going to spell Carri and Lauren became my middle name."

"That's cool." Rocky replied as Coach Anderson started yelling for last year's players to come out on the field. "That's my cue."

"Alright. Talk to you later." Carri said as she glanced over at him.

"Later it is then." Rocky replied with a grin as he stood up and started to jog out onto the field.

Carri watched for a moment as he jogged out and gathered with the rest of the players from last year's team. A few minutes into their drills she turned her focus back to her paperwork, trying to get it out of the way as quickly as possible.

* * *

After tryouts, the boys ran to the locker rooms to shower and get dressed. As Carri sat on the field, she noticed the coach post the list of the players who made the varsity team on the outside of the dugout. Peaking at it she noticed she was listed as the starting pitcher. Before she could investigate further, the boys started emerging and quickly pushing their way toward the list. Quickly she moved out of the way to avoid getting run over.

Rocky and Adam were toward the front of the pack. They scanned the list and after giving each other obligatory high fives, they went to find Carri. "Starting right fielder." Rocky announced once they were close enough to her.

"Starting second baseman." Adam added with a grin.

"Congrats guys." Carri said as she grinned at both of them. "Although I have a feeling you were expecting that."

With a laugh they both said yes, just as first baseman Mark Matthews was clearing his throat. Turning they all saw him standing on top of the bench. "Attention all boys." He said, not missing the evil eye he was getting from Carri. "And lady." He added as she nodded in approval. "For those of you lucky enough to make the team I will be holding my annual congratulations party tonight at my house. Be there at seven. And as you know the cheerleaders will be there, so bring a date at your own risk. Unless you're not interested in the cheerleaders, but I think there's only one of us who falls in that category."

Everyone laughed as Mark jumped off the bench. As the laughter died down, Carri leaned in close to Rocky. "There had better be two of us." She teased.

"Who are the cheerleaders?" Rocky replied with a shrug. In all honesty he had never been that interested in the Angel Grove High cheerleaders. They were pretty enough but he didn't really have anything in common with any of them.

Carri smiled and nodded as the players were starting to disperse. Deciding it was time to go spread some good news, she headed toward the gate as well. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't even notice that Rocky stayed behind to chat until he chased her down into the parking lot.

"Wait up!" He yelled out. She stopped and spun in his direction, smiling as he approached her. "A couple of us were going to go grab some burgers. You wanna come?"

"Thanks but no thanks." She replied with a smile. For a moment he looked hurt and she elaborated. "I want to go to the Youth Center and spread the good news. I'm sure they'll be plenty of time to hang out with the guys from the team."

"Ok." Rocky replied. He was kind of disappointed but he understood. She had a lot of people she probably wanted to share with. "I'll see you later though?"

"But of course." Carri replied as she grinned at him. "Have fun." She said as she clicked the button that unlocked her car doors.

"You too." Rocky replied, giving her a quick kiss before taking off to hang with his teammates.

* * *

Carri walked into the Youth Center and slid onto a stool. As Ernie walked over to greet her he couldn't help but notice the smile that appeared permanently affixed to her face. "Someone's in a good mood." He commented.

"Well if you were back in the game you'd be happy too." She said. She was bursting at the seams to spit it out, but she wanted to keep him guessing. Besides she was curious as to how much of her little league days he remembered.

"The game?" Ernie questioned raising an eyebrow. "As in baseball?"

"Duh." She said as her smile grew wider, satisfied that Ernie remembered.

"That's great. Are you coaching little league?" Ernie asked, watching as she shook her head no. "Don't tell me you're playing rec ball." For someone with her talent he couldn't imagine her being interested in rec ball. He watched as she shook her head no one more time. "I give up." He conceded. He could play the guessing game all afternoon and not get anywhere.

"You are looking at next season's starting pitcher for Angel Grove High." Carri said proudly.

"Really?" Ernie asked. He sounded surprised although he supposed he really shouldn't be. She nodded and he continued. "Well congratulations. What made you decide to try out?"

"I didn't really try out." Carri replied. As Ernie stared at her curiously she continued. "I was there watching the guys when I caught a runaway ball. I through it back to the coach and he was impressed with my arm. The rest, as they say, is history."

"Good luck." Ernie wished as he started off to help a customer.

"You haven't seen any of my friends around?" Carri called after him. She had to spread the news.

"Nope." Ernie replied, briefly turning back.

Carri thought for a moment. Tommy was probably still working on his paper. And she assumed Kat was still at dance. So that left Billy. And she knew where she could find him. Mind made up, Carri hopped off the stool and headed out to find a secure place to teleport.

* * *

The small group of players that were going out to lunch walked into the diner that one of them had chosen. There hadn't been as many members of the team as they expected. Only Rocky, Adam, Kevin, Cory and the teams two other outfielders, Craig and Mike showed up. The group helped push two tables together and they all grabbed chairs and made themselves comfortable.

As soon as their drink orders had been taken, the conversation shifted to baseball. "So it looks like we have a pretty good team this year." Craig Jones, the starting centerfielder commented.

"Seems like we've adequately replaced our missing positions." The team's leftfielder, Mike Avery chimed in. He was pleased with what he saw of the new guys and girl on the team.

Kevin snorted. "Except for the pitcher."

"Yeah one of us would've done quite nicely." Cory added in. He was a bit ticked off about losing the starting position. Although had he lost it to Kevin it wouldn't have been that bad. Losing to a girl was another issue entirely.

"What's your problem?" Rocky asked as the waitress returned with their drinks and quickly took their food orders.

As the waitress left Kevin continued the conversation. "Come on, she's not here now, we can talk about how we really feel." He was upset that Rocky threatened him earlier but he assumed that was for the girl's sake more than anything. After all, he didn't tell the coach.

"I feel that you have a serious problem." Adam said as he glanced over at Kevin. He didn't appreciate the way he loathed Carri just because she was a girl. She was good on the mound and they were lucky to have her.

"Am I the only one who noticed that the new pitcher was a girl?" Kevin asked as he crossed his arms and sat back. His teammates were taking this way to lightly.

"No we all noticed." Rocky assured him, trying not to think about what exactly he noticed of their female teammate.

"I'm going to have to go with my boys on this one." Mike said as he leaned over onto the table.

Cory smiled triumphantly. "See there."

"No, our boys are Rocky and Adam." Craig clarified as he leaned up onto the table as well. "Not you two rookies."

"Baseball is a man's game. She should have no part in it." Kevin said gruffly. He couldn't believe them and he had no clue what they were thinking.

"Says who?" Adam questioned. Although women didn't play professional baseball, and he doubted Carri had any inclination to, they were still allowed to play little league and for someone with her talent she should be allowed to play at the high school level. There were no rules against it according to the school.

Corey made a face. "Says us."

"Big whoop." Mike replied as the tension at the table grew.

"Guys I suggest you just drop it." Rocky said glaring over at Kevin. He was relieved that it seemed as though most of the team was accepting Carri's involvement. He had to imagine they were just bitter about losing out on starting pitcher. As Kevin's eyes locked with his and he glared at him, Rocky continued. "Besides, the odds are against you, four against two, and you're not going to win this argument."

Kevin and Rocky stared each other down for a moment until Adam broke the silence. "Guys, look, the food is here. Let's just drop it."

For the first few minutes the boys started to eat in silence. Eventually Mike struck up a conversation having nothing to do with baseball and the atmosphere softened and they were actually having fun. Carri was temporarily forgotten to all but Kevin.

* * *

Carri's unexpected appearance in the Power Chamber shifted Billy immediately into worry mode. "Is something wrong?" He asked. In the few short weeks she'd been a ranger, she'd never once dropped into the Power Chamber unless it was ranger related.

"Wrong?" Carri questioned, raising an eyebrow as she smiled. "Just because I drop by unannounced doesn't mean something is wrong."

"Then what brings you here?" Billy asked, curious as to what her intentions were.

Carri crossed her arms and grinned. "Guess what?"

"I've never been very good at guessing games." Billy admitted. Unless they involved science, he usually flubbed them.

"Come on, guess." Carri pleaded as she stuck her lower lip out.

Billy threw his arms up in the air. "I honestly have no clue."

"Fine." Carri said before turning her attention to Alpha. She smiled at the little robot. "Guess what?"

"Mondo has been destroyed and there are no more bad guys?" Alpha gave his best shot at a guess.

Carri giggled. That was as good of a guess as any and she wished that were her news. "No it's much better than that…. Well probably not but it's still good." Carri took a step back to make sure everyone could see her before she elaborated. "You are graced by the presence of Angel Grove High's newest pitcher."

"That's the best news I've heard all day." Alpha said, pausing for a moment. "Other than what I made up." He added with a robotic laugh.

"Congratulations." Billy said. He'd heard that she'd played baseball before but he didn't realize that her talents extended to the point that they would get her a spot on the high school team.

"Thank you." Carri said, pausing for a moment as she debated whether or not to launch into an explanation. She figured they'd ask anyway so she continued. "Before you ask, I made the team because I threw a wild pitch back and the coach thought I had a good arm."

Billy smiled at her. "We weren't going to ask."

"Then you'll be the only ones not wondering how in the world that happened." Carri said with a smirk. "Besides Kat."

"I am proud of you." Zordon added in.

"Thank you." Carri said, turning to acknowledge her mentor. Briefly she glanced down at her watch. "Kat should be home soon. I have to go share my news with her." She said as she teleported out.

Billy simply smiled and shook his head at her enthusiasm. "So where were we?" he asked once she was gone.

"We were working on the reconfiguration of the electric charge of the Zeo Cannon to give it more power." Alpha quickly reminded him.

"Right." Billy replied, and with that they were back to work.

* * *

Tommy found himself heading into Kat's house. She had invited everyone over to watch movies that afternoon but he was almost certain he was the only one that could make it. In the back of his mind he felt as though he was betraying Kim, but Kat was still a fellow ranger and friend and he used that as justification to being able to visit with her.

Opening the door he smiled at the blonde Australian sitting on the couch. "Man I thought I was never going to finish that paper."

"I'm glad you made it. I was beginning to think no one was coming." Kat said as she stood. Of course she knew that Carri, Rocky and Adam were all together and Billy was busy. After a half an hour passed from the time she arrived home and she assumed that Tommy simply wasn't coming at all. "I'll grab us some drinks."

Kat disappeared into the kitchen as Tommy had a seat on the couch. When she returned she handed Tommy a soda and proceeded to sit on the opposite side of the couch from him. As she turned the television on, a yellow streak appeared through the living room.

Carri immediately noticed the duo sitting on the couch and the big vacant space between them. She had assumed that Kat cancelled her movie afternoon but she realized she was mistaken. Kat was probably looking forward to an afternoon with Tommy, the boy she fawned over who at the moment was with someone else. What would happen between her cousin and the red ranger she didn't know, but she let those thoughts pass as she plopped down in between them.

"You teleported in?" Tommy questioned, obviously not happy with her personal use of the teleportation system.

"Yeah. From the Power Chamber." She quickly pointed out with a smile. Tommy glanced at her curiously. "Guess what." She quickly changed subjects.

"I don't know." Kat said not in the mood for guessing games. Not that she minded her cousin being there, but she was looking forward to spending time with Tommy even if it was as friends. "I give up."

Carri crossed her arms over her chest. "Did the city of Angel Grove forget how to have fun while I was in New York?" she asked, referencing everyone else's refusal to play guessing games. "Somebody guess."

"Fine." Tommy said as he glanced over at the yellow ranger and smiled. "You've been accepted to a school far, far away. Like on Aquatar. And you're never coming back."

"Haha." Carri said dryly, before picking up a couch pillow and whopping Tommy with it. "I swear the people around here. No matter how smart they look, they really know absolutely nothing."

Tommy snorted. He was getting used to Carri as a ranger and as a friend. She was learning quickly on the battlefield and they had hung out some and gotten along well. But she was still different from anyone he'd ever met. "Fine then Mrs. Wise and all knowledgeable, tell us."

Carri smirked. "Not only am I Mrs. Wise and all knowledgeable, you can also refer to me as Mrs. All important, Mrs. All that, and Mrs. Can pitch so well in comparison to all the males in this town that she scored the starting pitcher role for the Tigers."

"Well." Tommy stated. That was certainly not where he thought the guessing game was going. Not that he actually had a clue. "Congrats."

"Yeah that's awesome." Kat chimed in. It had been a long time since her cousin had pitched and she had assumed she wasn't interested anymore. But she was good at it and had so much fun. "I'm glad you're getting involved in baseball again."

"Thanks." Carri said as she let out her first nervous sigh. "I hope I can do it. It's been a while since I've pitched a season."

"You'll be fine." Kat assured her. "I'm sure the team is looking at a winning season this year."

Carri nodded. She sure hoped so. But she knew she was good and she knew she could do it. Now it was up to her to tear the high school baseball scene apart. She leaned back into the couch. "So what movie did I interrupt?"

"None yet." Kat replied. Taking a brief glance past her cousin and toward Tommy, she turned the VCR on and prepared for her movie watching afternoon.

* * *

The doorbell rang at the Hillard house at promptly six thirty. Carri jogged down the stairs as she hollered "Coming!" to the person waiting on the other side of the door. She was the only one expecting someone, and sure enough as she opened the door she found her boyfriend standing on the stoop.

"Hey." She greeted flashing him a smile.

"You ready for the party?" Rocky questioned as he looked her over.

Carri smiled back. "As ready as I'm going to be." It was her first team function, although unofficial, and she was rather excited.

Rocky watched her as she closed the door and started to walk past him. "You look good tonight." Really good, he thought silently, hoping that the rest of the team wouldn't notice her. It would drive him crazy to watch his teammates ogle her all season.

Carri paused and gave him a crooked smile. "I know." She said as she headed toward the car.

Walking quickly Rocky caught up to her and grabbed her waist from behind. She looked back at him and raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"I just paid you a compliment and you couldn't offer up a thank you?" Rocky said, trying his best to remain serious.

"Nope." Carri paused, thinking about it for a moment. Her eyes twinkled as her lips formed a sly grin. "Actually I could have, I just didn't want to." With that she wiggled free of him and walked toward the car.

"Sometimes I wonder if you're worth all the trouble." Rocky complained as he headed toward the car as well.

Carri climbed into the passenger's seat. "Then why are you with me?" she asked with a grin.

"I don't know." Rocky replied as he climbed into the car as well. "I'll have to think on that and get back to you." His tone was serious but as he made eye contact with Carri he grinned. She let out a laugh and he leaned over and kissed her cheek, both well aware that he was joking. Putting the keys in the ignition, Rocky started the car up and they headed out to the party.

* * *

Rocky and Carri drove into the driveway of Mark's parents' mansion. As they stepped out of the car Rocky paused to take it all in. It didn't matter how many times he'd been there, the place was still impressive. He quickly noticed that Carri wasn't fazed by the house at all. Although he knew Carri's family had money, what he didn't realize is that she was just as well off if not more so than Mark's family and although it wasn't as flashy on the outside, the two floor penthouse apartment in Manhattan that she spent the last three years in was worth just as much as the mansion.

"Come on." Rocky said as he grabbed Carri's hand and led her to the front door. He rang the bell and the butler opened, gesturing them toward the center of the party.

"Hey!" Mark yelled, spying the two enter and immediately heading toward them. He heard Rocky's hello in response as they met halfway and exchanged high fives. He then turned his attention toward Carri. "I don't think we've had the chance to be properly introduced. I'm Mark Matthews." He said as he extended his hand.

"Carri Hillard." She replied, taking his hand in her own and shaking it. She noticed Rocky smile at her and slip away for the moment. He figured she looked comfortable enough and he wanted to go say hello to someone else.

Mark smiled at her. "Well allow me to be the first to say congratulations."

Carri let out a small laugh. "Actually it's more like the seventh or eighth, but thank you."

"You know for the last few months we've been praying for a good pitcher to replace Greg." Mark started. Greg graduated the previous year and had been the team's starting pitcher in both his senior and junior years. Kevin and Corey had been his backups last year and everyone was aware that they weren't good prospects. "And now we've got you. So thank you for bailing us out this year."

"I should be thanking you for letting me on your team." Carri replied with a grin. "And besides, I won't be able to do anything without the eight great players backing me up. And from what I saw today, you're certainly one of the eight." After she decided to join she spent some time scouting the rest of the team. She wanted to know the strengths and weaknesses of the people playing behind her.

"You know, if we keep complementing each other we're going to get along pretty well." Mark joked with a laugh.

"It works for me." Carri said with a smile. Giving Mark a quick goodbye, she headed off to socialize with some of her other teammates.

* * *

"So who shall we use as a pawn in my brilliant scheme?" King Mondo asked as he turned toward his wife.

"I'm not sure." Queen Machina said as she thought for a moment. "But I do have a few prospects."

"Dad, let's attack now." Prince Sprocket said with a whine.

"That would defeat the purpose." Mondo quickly explained to his son. "We have to make sure the rangers are completely unaware that we are about to unleash one of the world's oldest weapons on them. Klank, how close are we?"

"As soon as the Cogs finish with the latest components we will only be missing one thing." Klank informed him.

Machina found herself getting excited with her husband's latest plan. "If all goes well we'll be ready tomorrow."

* * *

Carri spend the most of the night walking around and socializing, introducing herself officially to everyone on the team. With the exception of Cory she got mostly warm receptions. She declined to say as much as hello to Kevin. Her thoughts on him were probably illegal in all fifty states. She still felt inclined to give him the beating he deserved, but she knew enough to keep her temper in check.

She headed over to the food table to grab a soda and she found herself standing with two of the cheerleaders. "Hello." She greeted them. She was pretty sure they were her age, she thought she'd seen one of them in her math class.

"Hello." One of them said, overly chipper as she bounced her head from side to side. "I'm Missy Elliott."

"I'm Kitty Carlisle." She said as she glared at Carri. "You're not a cheerleader, so, like, what are you doing here?" she asked, ignoring Carri's snicker.

Carri lifted a finger and started twirling her hair. "I'm like, totally on the baseball team." She said with a smile, trying her hardest not to laugh. She knew their type. She cheered with their type.

"Like, wow…." Missy said as she and Kitty stared at her in disbelief.

"Hey girls." A familiar voice said as she approached. Missy and Kitty rolled their eyes and walked away as Ashley Hammond simply smiled.

"What are you doing here?" Carri questioned, pleased at the reminder that not all of Angel Grove's cheerleaders were stereotypical.

"Cheerleader remember?" Ashley said with a smile. "Just the one running late."

"What's up with them?" Carri asked, nodding her head in the direction of the duo that just left.

"They're close with the senior captain." Ashley replied as she made a face. Sure she was a junior co-captain but she didn't have any say in the major decisions, including who made and who didn't make the squad. Next year assuming she got captain it would be different.

"Go figure." Carri replied. She knew what it was like, arguing who should and shouldn't make the squad. She also knew that there were some cases that no matter how passionate you were, your voice didn't matter at all.

A sharp voice boomed from the front of the room. "Alright, listen up." Mark said as he spoke into the borrowed microphone. "I think it's about time for some encouragement from our favorite high school cheerleaders."

"That's my cue." Ashley said with a smile, giving Carri a quick wave as she jogged up to the front of the room.

Carri sighed as the guys pushed their way toward the front, trying to get a better look at the cheerleaders. Carri simply allowed herself to fall to the back of the pack, completely uninterested. She found herself being joined by a senior who was also new to both the school and the team this year.

"They're not the brightest group." He commented.

Carri glanced at Missy and Kitty before flashing Ashley a smile. "Some are better than others." She commented before glancing at the guy standing next to her. "Jake Littrell, right?"

"Yup." Jake replied with a grin. "Taking over third base for our dear departed friend. Who I never met."

"I'm in the same position." Carri replied. "Although I've heard I have big shoes to fill."

"Me too." Jake said as he thought for a moment. "I think your job may be more difficult though."

Carri rolled her eyes. "Jeeze, thanks." Like that was something she wanted to be reminded. Fortunately from three years as a cheerleader she was used to the pressure. She doubted any sport on Earth could be worse than that.

"Although I don't doubt you can do it." Jake rushed, correcting his earlier comment. "And I wish you the best of luck."

"Thank you." Carri replied as she watched the cheerleaders. For a few minutes the cheers went on, with Jake and Carri making comments amongst themselves. As they came to a close, Carri let out a sigh of relief. "Finally."

"I know. We could've done better without even trying." Jake commented.

Carri couldn't help but laugh. Her maybe, but he had no idea what cheerleading entailed. Instead of revealing her cheerleading past and pointing that out, she joked with him. "Yes but I doubt the other guys would like to see you up there and cheerleading is just not me."

Jake chuckled and Carri glanced over at him. For the first time she noticed him looking at her kind of funny. Maybe it was a good time to tell him Rocky was her boyfriend. But she didn't want to just spit it out. And besides, maybe she was just reading too much into it. Maybe he was just thinking about how odd it was to have a girl on the team. If the boyfriend topic came up she certainly wouldn't avoid it, but for now she'd just leave it be.

For a moment Jake thought she had caught him staring and he glanced away. But he couldn't help look into her eyes. They were the most beautiful brown eyes he had ever seen. They matched the rest of her beauty well. He couldn't help but wonder how he got so lucky. Not only did he make the team, but he got to be on it and go to practice every day with one of the best looking girls he'd ever seen. He didn't think she had a boyfriend, after all, she would've brought him with her and the only people he'd seen her talk to have been ballplayers. He wanted to ask her out but the thought that she might reject him steered him away from that question.

"Hey Carri!" Rocky called from across the room. She looked around and saw him standing with Adam and Craig. Quickly she said goodbye to Jake before heading off to chat with them.

With a sigh Jake watched her go. He supposed he had the rest of the year to figure her out. Shaking her out of his thoughts, he went to mingle with the others at the party.

* * *

Kevin walked through his front door shortly after midnight. He didn't stay until the end of the party. He wanted to chat after everyone had left, but Rocky and Carri were hanging around with Mark and he couldn't stand the thought of being anywhere near her. He was surprised to see his father sitting in the recliner as he walked into the living room.

"How's my star pitcher doing tonight?" Mr. Brown asked. He was so excited for his son, they had been waiting for this moment ever since he made the JV squad.

Kevin sighed. "I'm not the star pitcher."

"Who beat you out?" He questioned, angry and upset for Kevin all at the same time. "It wasn't Corey was it? Because you're a much better pitcher than he ever was."

"Carri Hillard." Kevin mumbled.

"Carri?" Mr. Brown repeated. "What kind of name is Carri? His parents must be nuts and how could any boy with that kind of name beat you."

"Carri's not a boy dad." Kevin said, embarrassed to have to tell his dad the truth.

"What?" He exclaimed, his anger rising to the surface. "How could you let any girl beat you? We've been working toward this you're entire life. This was your year to get a baseball scholarship which would lead to your MLB future and you can't sit there and let a girl take away your opportunities. I want you to go down to that field next week and make sure they know that you're the best choice for that team. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir." Kevin grumbled as he stormed upstairs. Flying into his room he slammed the door shut before he started throwing things and cursing Carri's name to anyone who would listen.

* * *

Sunday flew by with not much fanfare. Carri woke up slightly before lunch and joined her cousin for a weightlifting session at the gym. She had been sore that morning from the long workout the day before and desperately wanted to work on her endurance. After that the two girls went shopping, coming home late and calling it a day.

The next morning Carri surprised herself by waking up on time. She wasn't as sore as before, and she found herself feeling somewhat refreshed. She got up and got dressed before heading down to meet Kat and walk to class. Kat was surprised with her cousin's actual emergence on time but she declined to comment as she headed out the front door and toward the school.

Walking through the main entrance of the high school they headed toward the lockers. Kat and Carri were the only two of the ranger team who had lockers near each other, which was nice in the mornings. Kat stopped first as her locker was closer to the entrance and Carri continued on to her locker. When she glanced up toward her locker, she noticed that there was a boy waiting for her. That in itself wasn't surprising, but what did surprise her was that the boy in question wasn't Rocky.

"Hello." Carri said as she greeted Jake. She wasn't sure what to think. Perhaps he had a locker nearby. Or maybe he was just coming to greet a teammate. After all, they were in the same position, maybe he felt closer to her for that.

"Hey." He replied as he grinned at her. Jake wasn't sure what he expected. He wasn't even sure he'd catch her at her locker.

Carri started to fiddle with her combination before making an attempt at casual conversation. "How are you?"

"Fine." Jake replied, trying to get some of his jitters out. "How was your Sunday?"

"Eh." Carri said as she yanked her locker open. She started to elaborate as she shuffled books into her backpack. "Went to the gym, went shopping, came home. Not too exciting."

"You're just upset they had to order those shoes in your size." Kat chimed in as she walked up behind her cousin, looking curiously at the guy standing next to her.

"I wanted to wear them with that new outfit but it will just have to wait." Carri said with a sigh. She was all excited about the shoes. And they had every size surrounding hers except the one she needed. "And patience just isn't one of my strong points."

Kat laughed at her cousin. She was never one to handle waiting around for things well. Kat noticed Jake glance at her as Carri turned back briefly in their direction. Kat looked over at Jake and Carri stopped what she was doing as she realized the duo didn't know each other.

"Kat this is Jake. He's on the baseball team." Carri paused for a second as Kat nodded. "And Jake, this is my cousin Kat."

"Nice to meet you." Kat said as Carri turned back to her locker. Jake echoed her sentiments as Carri loudly slammed her locker door and turned back around. Kat made a face. "I don't think you're parents heard that."

Carri narrowed her eyes and grinned. "Do you want me to try again?" Kat rolled her eyes and Carri laughed. "I'll take that as a no."

"I'm heading across campus." Kat stated changing subjects. "Are you going to join me?"

"But of course." Carri said with a smile. If they managed to make it on time they'd try and go say hello to the guys before class.

"What's across campus?" Jake asked, curious as to where they were going. He was hoping he could find an opening to join them.

"Our friends." Carri replied casually.

"Oh." Jake said, somewhat disappointed. He wasn't going to butt in with her and her other friends. "Anyway I have any assignment to finish up. I'll talk to you later?"

"Of course. Maybe I'll see you at lunch." Carri answered before turning toward Kat. "Shall we go find the gang?"

"Sure." Kat said as she and Carri started walking away from the locker area.

Jake felt like hitting himself as he watched them go. He'd spent all Sunday thinking about asking her out, and there she was and he couldn't do it. He'd force himself to before the week was out. He wanted her to go to the movies with him on Friday. He was so afraid of her rejecting him. She was really good looking and he was, well, he never thought of himself as more than plain. He'd have to get over his shyness, get over his fears, and just do it. With a sigh he turned and walked toward his first period class so he could sit and mope until the bell rang.

* * *

By lunchtime Carri was full of energy. She burst into the cafeteria, ranger team in tow. Rocky smiled as she bounced around. "I would go walk with you but I wouldn't want anyone to associate us."

Turning around to walk backward, Carri scowled at her boyfriend as Tommy laughed. "He only said what we were all thinking." The red ranger joked.

"You guys are just jealous that you don't have my energy." She replied with enthusiasm as she turned back around, seconds before she slammed into a table.

"How about you girls sit there," Tommy said, gesturing toward the table Carri almost hit as the ranger boys snickered, "and the rest of us will go get lunch."

"No fair sticking me with crazy girl." Kat protested as she walked over toward the table and sat her books down.

Carri's backpack thudded loudly as she dropped it on the table. "You know you love me." She said as she sat.

Kat simply shook her head, taking a seat as well while the ranger boys went off in search of lunch. As they waited for the guys to return, Kat and Carri found themselves being joined by one of Carri's baseball teammates. Jake approached their table and stood awkwardly for a moment, waiting until they noticed him standing there and said hello.

"Hey." Jake replied with a smile as he thought about what to say. "Um, well, here I am." As he spoke he wanted to hit himself. Was that the best he could come up with?

"Yeah. Me too." Carri said as she started to drag up bits and pieces from the morning's conversation with Jake. She didn't realize he was going to come hunt her down at lunch but it was ok. She shook that thought away and continued talking. "Even though I don't want to be here. I'd rather be home. In bed. Asleep. But I don't think I get much choice." She spoke, reverting back to the same chipper voice from before.

Kat giggled and looked up at Jake. "Don't mind her, we've all come to the conclusion that she's on something."

Carri turned and promptly went to stick her tongue out at her cousin as Jake jumped in to stand up for her. "She's energetic. I think it's cool. I can never get that excited at school."

Carri held out her hand and gestured toward Jake. "See, someone appreciates me."

"Someone doesn't know you." Kat quickly pointed out. Carri pouted and Kat smiled. She knew her cousin wouldn't stay mad at her for long.

Kat was right as the boys returned and Carri's outward anger dissolved. Food was quickly handed out and seats were taken, and it wasn't long before everyone was trying to eat before the bell rang. For the time being, everything else was forgotten. Even Jake, who moved to stand behind Kat and Carri as the others were getting situated.

Adam glanced up as he took his first bite and noticed Jake standing there. "Hey. How are you?"

Heads snapped toward the mystery person and after Jake returned Adam's greeting Rocky said hello before introducing him to Tommy. As Adam was getting ready to ask if Jake wanted to join them their communicators went off.

"What was that?" Jake questioned, not missing Carri's groan at the noise.

"Our, uh, pagers." Rocky said, stumbling to come up with a logical excuse. "We're volunteering together and we're waiting for some information. We'll be right back."

Jake watched curiously as they all stood and disappeared out of sight. It was the oddest thing he had heard of but he tried to push it aside as he took an empty seat at the table and pulled his lunch out of his backpack. He ate slowly, waiting for the others to return. Twenty minutes later he was finishing his chips as they finally made their way back to the table. "That must have been really important."

"Yeah." Tommy replied. It had been a good sized group of Cogs, and although they were easily defeated they weren't quite sure what they wanted to begin with. They have been acting odd and it was starting to bother him.

As they made themselves comfortable at the table the bell rang. Carri sighed and dropped her fork. "And I was really hungry too." She muttered to herself as they stood once more. The rangers tried to shove bites of food in their mouths as they were getting ready to walk away from the table. Carri threw her backpack over her shoulder and took one more giant bite before smiling over at Jake. "See you at practice."

"See ya." Jake said as he watched them take off again. He sighed as he headed out as well. So much for talking to her during lunch.

* * *

The afternoon rolled by and eventually Angel Grove's baseball team found themselves gathered on the diamond, making a semicircle around Coach Anderson as he prepared to handout orders for the day's practice. "Alright I want the position players to head over to the cages. Pitchers and catchers start off on the field. In a while we'll switch."

There was a commanding "yes sir" from the players as they started to disperse. Carri looked over and gave Rocky a smile and a wink before jogging over to the mound. To her surprise, Kevin was hot on her heels.

Turning abruptly, she raised her eyebrow and glared at him. "What are you doing? I can't practice with you glued to me."

Kevin crossed his arms over his chest and huffed. "Excuse me but I think I get to go first."

Coach Anderson quickly stepped in before the argument could escalade. "Carri's our starter, Carri goes first. You can have a seat and I'll let you know when it's your turn." Coach Anderson watched as Kevin shot Carri a dirty look before heading into the dugout and slamming his glove against the wall. "And you can give me fifty pushups while you're waiting!"

Coach watched as Kevin disappeared to the floor before turning his attention toward Carri. "Alright, show me what you've got."

Carri took a deep breath and focused. She leaned back and took her sign, zipping the baseball right down the middle of the plate. Holding her glove out she accepted the ball before getting another sign and repeating the near flawless pitch. This pace continued on and with only a few exceptions she threw her pitches into the strike zone.

After finishing his pushups, Kevin slid into the seat next to Cory and watched Carri pitch. After watching a good portion of her exercise he decided he was fed up. "I hate her." He said as he let out a grunt. "Why can't she just screw up like the rest of us?"

Cory sighed. "Man just let it drop." He said as he leaned back against the bench. "Besides, there's not much we can do about it."

"We could kill her." Kevin said, seriously contemplating the option.

Cory glanced at him, seriously disturbed by his friend's comment. "Dude, go home, get some rest. Think about it. She's good, we could use the extra arm."

Kevin had a comeback waiting on his tongue when the coach called out to him. "Alright it's time for your practice!" Coach yelled before turning toward Carri. "You can head to the cages. We're done here. "

Carri gave him a slight nod before heading toward the dugout. As she walked in she tossed her glove down and glanced around for her bat. As she was coming to the conclusion that someone had already brought it out she felt a hand on her shoulder. Startled she turned to see Cory standing there. "What?" She snapped, not wanting a lecture about why he was better than her or why girls couldn't pitch.

"Nice job out there." Cory replied as he removed his arm from her shoulder.

Carri blinked. That wasn't what she was expecting but she'd certainly take it. "Thanks." She replied before scooting past him and heading out to take some batting practice.

* * *

The rest of practice went by quickly and uneventfully. Carri was able to stay in the cages for the remainder of the practice, joking with the boys for a bit before they had to go do some fielding. Once the coach finally called practice to an end the players pushed into the dugout to gather their things and make their way back home.

As the crowd flooded back out onto the field Carri stood aside, waiting to meet up with Adam and Rocky. They made their way out and she smiled and waved, happy to see them. She hadn't gotten to talk to them all afternoon. Plus they were her ride home.

"How did you do?" Rocky asked. He had hoped to have the chance to watch his girlfriend pitch some. He had been quite impressed by the little bit he'd seen the other day. Of course his urge to watch her was more than just his interest in her skills, it was his interest in other parts of her as well.

Carri shrugged her shoulders. "Ok I think. I should get better though. I mean I hope I do." She didn't feel like she was back up to one hundred percent and that bothered her. She wasn't patient enough to wait to get there either; she wanted to charge right into it.

Adam was surprised. "If you're not at your best now I can't wait to see you when you are." He'd seen her pitch. She was already comparable to others in their conference.

Before Carri had a chance to reply their communicators went off. She threw her hands up in frustration. "Not again!"

"Duty calls." Rocky said as the trio started to make their way toward a safe place to answer their communicator.

As they disappeared Jake wondered out of the dugout looking for Carri. With a sigh he realized he must have just missed her. It wasn't the end of the world, he could talk to her tomorrow. And hopefully many more days after that.

* * *

Thirty minutes later Carri, Rocky and Adam were rolling into the Hillard's driveway absolutely exhausted. It had been a twenty minute Cog battle, their second battle of the day. Afterwards they had gone back to the field to get the car and their stuff and go home.

As Carri burst through the front door she was thinking the same thoughts that they all were. Between two Cog fights and baseball practice all she wanted to do was sleep. But that would have to wait. With a thud she threw her bag on the floor and turned toward the couch where Tommy and Kat were waiting for them.

Carri slunk into the middle seat of the couch as Rocky and Adam followed her inside. "Did you talk to Zordon?" Rocky asked as the door was shut and everyone was seated. They'd had to leave right after the battle to make sure to clear their stuff from the baseball field before anyone got suspicious.

"Yeah." Tommy replied with a sigh. No one was too keen on the idea of having all the Cog fights with seemingly no purpose. "We're not sure why they're doing it. Maybe is a distraction. Or to get us off guard."

"Or to piss us off and wear us out." Carri chimed in.

Tommy couldn't help but smile. That was easy for the Cogs to accomplish. "Yeah that too."

Kat sighed. "I just hope they don't keep this up much longer." She enjoyed being a ranger and fighting the good fight, but at the same time she had a lot to do that didn't involve Mondo's multiple random battles.

"They have to have some sort of motive." Adam pointed out. Mondo wasn't that different from Rita and Zedd. And they always had something planned that everything was a part of, even if the idea was stupid.

"There have been two attacks today and no monster. Something is bound to happen." Rocky pointed out. He didn't like what was going on much either.

"That means one is probably on the way. Which is what I am afraid of." Tommy continued Rocky's train of thought. "Remember that stuff Mondo took from the junkyard?"

"What about it?" Adam asked as they all clearly remembered the battle.

"Billy has been working on it and he now thinks that it has the capability of making a monster that could devastate us." Tommy filled them in on his other Power Chamber conversation. That was the part he really didn't like.

"Of course." Carri said with a sigh as she sunk farther into the couch.

"What should we do?" Kat asked. She had been concerned before but Tommy didn't have any answers. Now that he'd had some time to think about it she was hoping he'd figured something out.

"We can't do anything until Mondo makes a move." Rocky pointed out. He wished they could, he hated waiting knowing that something bad could happen.

"Right." Tommy agreed. It was the same advice that Zordon always gave. Wait for them to make a move then take care of the problem. "For now we should get some rest so we're prepared."

No one had any objection to that. The group of rangers sat around the living room for a while before Kat and Carri shooed them out. The girls went upstairs to relax for the rest of the evening before slipping into bed to try and get a good night's sleep.

* * *

Tommy, Carri and Rocky were sitting together in their second period history class, much like they did every day. And like every day they worked hard to give their full attention up until the bell rang, signaling the end of class. Unlike every day, as the bell rang their communicators went off.

Carri let out a loud groan as she threw her head back. "Aw come on."

"Duty calls." Tommy replied glancing toward her.

Carri nodded. She was not one to ignore ranger duty. She hadn't had her Zeonizers that long but she absolutely loved it. She'd be a ranger forever if they'd let her. She was simply tired of the cog fights that seemed to never end from the past few days and she had half a mind to teleport herself to Mondo and tell him that.

"Come on." Rocky said, placing a hand on Carri's back as they followed Tommy out of the classroom to find a safe place to answer the page. He agreed with Carri's sentiments but there wasn't much they could do about it.

As they slipped into the janitor's closet Tommy went to answer the page. "Go ahead Alpha."

"Mondo has sent more Cogs to the park. You need to get there immediately." Alpha quickly informed them.

"Right." Tommy said with a sigh. "We're on it." He didn't want to keep fighting these drawn out Cog battles anymore that anyone else. He glanced at the others briefly for a moment and as they nodded at him he called out "It's morphin time!"

"Zeo ranger two, yellow!"

"Zeo ranger three, blue!"

"Zeo ranger five, red!"

* * *

That afternoon Carri and Rocky were curled up on the Hillard's couch watching a baseball game. Both were exhausted after the long morning cog battle that caused them to have to make excuses for being late to third period.

"No!" Carri yelled suddenly as the Astros – Cardinals game started not to go her way. "Rocky cover my eyes." Rocky did as he she requested and Carri quickly changed her mind. "No, don't." He removed his hand and she changed her mind again. "Wait! No never mind. Bill-y!"

"Ouch. That hurt." Rocky said making a face as they watched the Cardinals cross home plate. "Well look at the bright side. Only down by three. And your next three batters are Biggio, Bagwell and Bell."

"This sucks." Carri said as she flopped over on the couch, her head on Rocky's leg and her feet sitting on the opposite arm of the couch. She watched from that position until the next batter struck out. "Finally." She said with a sigh, sitting up and curling herself up under Rocky's outstretched arm.

"Well you guys still have a chance." Rocky pointed out, trying to get her hopes up.

Carri let out a snort as she rolled her eyes. "When we lose here in three outs we're mathematically eliminated from the playoffs."

"Don't count your team out yet." Rocky said as they both watched Biggio come up to bat. Two pitches in he got hit by the pitcher. "Look, he got on base."

"Yeah he probably took one for the team." Carri said shaking her head. That tended to happen a lot to Biggio. It was a way on base though. Bagwell came up to bat and the first pitch produced a loud cracking noise. "Wait! We hit it! And I think it's…. gone!"

Carri jumped off the couch and pumped her fist in the air as Rocky clapped. "See I told you not to count you guys out yet."

"Alright, one more and we're tied." Carri said, sitting down on the edge of the couch. She watched as Bell hit a very long out, followed by a strikeout then a groundout. "Crap." She said as she turned the TV off and tossed the remote aside.

"I don't know what to say." Rocky said with a shrug, turning toward his girlfriend and grinning. "The only comfort I have is that the Dodgers have already secured their spot in the playoffs."

Reaching behind herself, Carri grabbed a couch pillow and promptly wacked Rocky over the head with it. "Not. Cool." She said, hitting him with a pillow in between words.

Rocky held his hands up in self defense, and as soon as she let up a little he leaped at her, tackling her to the couch as he started to tickle her. As the tickling was starting to lead to something more, their communicators went off.

"Because this is just the way I want to end my afternoon." Carri grumbled as she and Rocky sat up.

"Go ahead." Rocky spoke into his communicator.

Alpha was quick to fill them in. "There are more Cogs in the park. Please teleport immediately."

"On our way." Rocky replied as he and Carri jumped to their feet. "It's morphin time!"

"Zeo ranger two, yellow!"

"Zeo ranger three, blue!"

* * *

Kat sat in the Youth Center watching as Adam and Tommy sparred. Adam found himself on his back yet again and jumped up, eager to continue. Kat simply rolled her eyes. "I don't think this is your day Adam."

Adam grinned at the Australian. "I'm not quitting until I win."

"You're going to be here all night then." Tommy teased with a laugh. It was always fun to add a little fuel to the fire when they were sparring. "I've only lost a few times in my career."

"And I'm going to make one of those times against me." Adam said matter-of-factly as he grinned at Tommy.

"You know, Ernie is going to throw you guys out before you settle this." Kat quickly pointed out. Although Ernie would probably let them go all night if they wanted, he'd simply lock up around them. That didn't mean she was going to stay here and watch them all night.

"Alright man. It's your funeral." Tommy said with a grin. "I've got time for one more."

"That's all I need." Adam said as he started jumping in place. "I've got the edge. I've worn you out."

Tommy simply shook his head. "Whatever you say."

Adam was getting ready to make another retort when Kat interrupted. "Why don't you guys get started so we can go grab dinner." The trio had spent the afternoon at the Youth Center and Kat suggested that they should all go eat together before they separated to return home and do homework and anything else that was waiting for them.

"One thing." Adam said, holding up his hand to stop Tommy before they got started. "You had better not let me win." He said with a grin, knowing full well that Tommy Oliver would not let anybody win.

Tommy snickered. He knew Adam was aware of how absurd the idea was when he said it. "And tarnish my record?"

With that the boys got started while Kat stayed on the sidelines, watching intently as they took shots at each other. Just as it appeared as though Adam was finally going to get the upper hand, their communicators went off.

"I'll finish you later Oliver." Adam said with a smile. He was quite disappointed that their communicators had interrupted the day's activities yet again. He couldn't help but wonder if Tommy planned it that way.

"I was winning." Tommy said as they were both stepping off the mat, following Kat to their usual spot for answering their communicators.

"I don't think so. I"

"What is it?" Tommy spoke into his communicator, giving Adam a smile as he intentionally cut him off. Adam simply shook his head and smiled as well.

"There are more Cogs in the park. You must join Rocky and Carri." Alpha's message came through.

"We're on it." Tommy said, quickly shifting into position. "It's morphin time!"

"Zeo ranger one, pink!"

"Zeo ranger four, green!"

"Zeo ranger five, red!"

* * *

Carri crawled into bed later that night with every bone in her body aching. They had just finished a thirty minute Cog battle on top of the two other Cog battles they'd had earlier in the day. She wanted nothing more than to forget about Cogs and sleep for the next two days.

Of course she couldn't forget about Cogs, she found herself even dreaming about Cogs. Despite the bad dreams she had no inclination of getting out of bed when she heard what she interpreted as her alarm going off. Reaching over she slapped the snooze button.

A few seconds later she heard the noise again, and once again slapped the snooze button. The third time Carri finally realized what it was. Rolling over she read the large red numbers on her clock. Two am.

"What?" Carri grumbled into her communicator half asleep.

"Aye ai ai! I don't want to disturb your sleep but it's an emergency!" Alpha's panicked voice came through.

"Sorry. I just don't appreciate Mondo waking me up at two in the morning." She said, no more enthusiastic than before. "What's going on?"

"Mondo has sent Cogs to two different locations." Alpha quickly explained. "Kat and Tommy are already in the park. You need to join Rocky and Adam in the city."

"Got it." Carri said as she sat up, letting her legs fall ungracefully over the side of the bed. She stood quickly and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes before thrusting her arms down by her side. "It's morphin time!"

Within seconds her Zeonizers were joined together and she had called out her morphing call and was taking off for her destination.

* * *

Three in the morning rolled around and Carri finally found herself back in her bedroom. She felt like she could have easily fallen asleep where she stood. Instead she stumbled over to her bed and collapsed on top of it, not even bothering to pull the covers back. Within seconds she was sound asleep, where she stayed until her alarm went off a few hours later.

* * *

The next morning second period history class wasn't going quite as smoothly as usual. There were no Cog attacks, simply three rangers struggling to keep their eyes open. At one point all three found themselves with their eyes closed, at which point the teacher promptly shook them awake.

They all muttered apologizes before returning to their half asleep daze. The cog fights had drained them of any of the energy they usually had. All they wanted to do was retreat under the covers and hang the white flag so they could finally get some rest.

Finally the bell rang and the rangers slowly shuffled off to third period. Third period wasn't much better than second, and the team found themselves getting yelled at all day for dozing off.

* * *

As school let out, Kevin found himself standing in front of his locker struggling to get it opened. He was quickly getting frustrated, the last thing he needed to do was be late to practice. Especially if he was going to have a chance to prove that he could be the team's starter.

As he finally swung the door open a figure appeared beside him. Startled, Kevin jumped back. "Who are you?"

"Hello Kevin. I am King Mondo." The leader of the Machine Empire spoke. He usually sent his minions to do this sort of thing but he wanted to make this offer personally.

"How did you know my name?" Kevin asked. He didn't know whether to be freaked out or intrigued by the situation. He couldn't help but wonder if the Power Rangers were going to come to his rescue.

"That is not important." Mondo replied, quickly brushing him off. "What is important is that I can help you get revenge on the person who stole your hard earned position on the team. And get you what you deserve."

Kevin made a face. It sounded really good. But would it be worth it. "How are you going to do that?"

"Come with me and I'll show you." Mondo replied. Once he got him off of Earth he wasn't going to give him a choice. Kevin would be his newest monster. He would use the human's jealousy and rage against him, focusing it into something that would be beneficial. Something that would destroy the rangers. And even though as a monster he'd retain no human memories, his hatred for the yellow ranger and the two rangers who stood up for her would be strong enough that he'd feel an uncontrollable urge to get rid of them.

Kevin thought for a moment. On one hand this whole situation was kind of odd. On the other, he could show his father that he wasn't as worthless as he thought it was. "Fine. Let's go." Kevin spoke quickly. Mondo wasted no time rushing him off.

* * *

The three rangers were the first three players out onto the field. It wasn't long before Rocky found himself sitting on the bench, Carri curled up beside him and Adam leaning toward him on the other side, all three sound asleep. It was a while before anyone else joined them.

Mark stood over the trio and crossed his arms over his chest. "Wake up!"

"Huh? What?" Carri questioned, lazily opening one eye to see where the noise was coming from.

"Dude, you guys were sound asleep." Mark quickly pointed out as Rocky and Adam opened their eyes as well.

"Aw man." Rocky said as he tried stretch his arms and work the sleep out of his muscles. "Did anyone else see us out here?"

"Nope." Mark said with a smile. "I was the first one out here."

"Good." Adam replied as he let out a sigh of relief. Practice was hard enough without the Coach pushing them extra hard knowing they were dead tired.

Standing and stretching, the rangers worked hard to try and get themselves to wake up. Five minutes later, their coach was calling them all out onto the field. "Alright guys, five laps around the field." Coach Anderson said as all the players looked at him. "Go!" he ordered to get them moving.

Everyone reluctantly started jogging toward the edge of the field. Halfway through the first lap, Carri was pushing herself to stay in the lead with Mark jogging right beside her. Rocky and Adam had fallen back toward the middle of the pack, neither having the energy to push toward the front. As the rangers pushed on, much to their surprise, a monster appeared in the middle of the outfield.

"Aw man." Carri said as she stopped running and crossed her arms. "Tell me I'm hallucinating."

"That makes two of us." Mark said as he stopped beside her. He'd never been this close to a monster before. Nor did he ever want to be.

"I am Vengetron and I have come here to get my vengeance by destroying you." The monster announced triumphantly.

Carri rolled her eyes at his proclamation. She wasn't sure what was lamer, him or his name. "Oooh I'm shaking in my boots." She said to herself, her words filled with sarcasm.

The baseball players had nothing to add. Some of them were frightened. Some of them contemplated standing up to the monster. Either way, they weren't moving. After a few seconds the rangers started to take control and tried to get everyone out of there. One thing was certain, the rangers needed to morph.

"Let's get out of here!" Rocky hollered to the others.

"Come on, he looks dangerous." Adam chimed in. He didn't want his teammates to get hurt, all because they were unknowingly hanging out with three of the rangers at the wrong time.

Carri simply snickered as she turned and tried to get the others to turn back with her.

All the rangers efforts were quickly halted. "You can't escape from me that easily!" Vengetron yelled as a dozen Cogs appeared to surround the rangers.

The rangers shifted into a fighting position as the Cogs immediately went after some of the more frightened players. The rangers quickly went to fight to protect their friends. They were joined by some of the braver guys on the team, such as Mark and Craig, who figured if their teammates were going to fight they would too.

Jake found himself fighting to help pull the Cogs away from their friends. He didn't know why, he was scared to death. Well he did know why. Carri was fighting them. If he cowered away with the frightened ball players she'd think he was a loser. There was no way she'd have so much as a hint of interest in him after that.

Those fighting found themselves wearing out, especially the rangers as they'd lost count of the number of fights they had in the last few days. Morphed rangers were nowhere to be found and the others knew if they didn't morph soon there would be casualties.

Carri decided it was time to take matters into her own hands as she broke free of the Cogs and rushed toward the monster, leaving the others in the battle. Grateful she was out of earshot of her baseball team, she spoke. "You've had your fun. Send the Cogs back."

Vengetron glared at her, smiling evilly. "If I do then how will I keep your friends busy while we fight?"

Vengetron wasted no time charging Carri, who was rendered rather defenseless. She couldn't morph, and fighting a monster with no powers was a stupid idea. Of course that didn't stop her from quickly exchanging a few punches with Vengetron. Eventually Vengetron got a good shot in, sending her backwards and to the ground.

"I'll be feeling that later." She grumbled as she pulled herself back to her feet.

"Now to finish you." Vengetron threatened.

"Dream on." Carri said, sounding more confident than she felt. With no morphed rangers on the scene and Rocky and Adam still dealing with Cogs, she had no idea how long she could hold him off. Slowly she edged toward him, her mind racing with all the ways this could turn out. As Vengetron walked up to her, Carri braced herself for an attack. Surprisingly enough he simply grabbed her. Much to her dismay, as he got a grip on her she disappeared.

"Carri!" Rocky yelled, pushing as hard as he could to get through the Cogs and to the monster. His heart was racing as he approached the monster. "What have you done with her?" he questioned angrily as Adam appeared by his side.

"That's for me to know and you not to." Vengetron teased. He was glad to get that power brat in his trap. He had plans for her.

Without thinking about the potential consequences, Rocky and Adam charged against the monster. Before they got a chance to get close to him, the morphed pink and red rangers appeared in their path.

"Don't touch him!" Tommy warned, putting his hands on Rocky's shoulders as his friend was continuing to try and push forward.

From behind him the baseball players started to realize who their visitors were. "Look, its two of the power rangers!" Mark yelled, relieved to see them.

"Finally." Craig said as he noticed them as well.

"That thing took Carri." Rocky said pointing behind Tommy toward Vengetron. He didn't even notice that the Cogs and Vengetron had teleported away moments after the rangers arrival, eager to enjoy their first victory.

"Where were you guys?" Adam asked, angry that the other members of his team hadn't shown up to help in the fight against evil. "We were all out here fighting, doing your job."

"There were other ranger matters." Tommy said firmly. He did not want to have this argument with Adam in front of everybody. "We'll fix this I promise. You guys need to get out of here." He spoke the last comment loudly, hoping that the baseball team would take off and they could get back to the Power Chamber and explain everything.

The baseball players grumbled and grunted for a few moments before dispersing, none of them knowing quite what to do. After what had just happened they were all running through a cluster of emotions and they didn't think they could focus back to the task at hand. Besides it didn't seem appropriate to continue practice considering one of their own had gone missing.

The two power rangers teleported off as the coach was trying to gather all the rest of the players together. After what felt like the longest two minutes of Rocky's life, the coach dismissed them to work out on their own for a while in hopes that they could talk through this or work some aggression out or whatever they needed. As soon as the final words were out of his mouth, Rocky and Adam were off looking for a safe place to teleport. It wasn't long before they were standing in the Power Chamber.

Rocky immediately crossed his arms and glared at Tommy. "What were you guys doing? Where were you the whole time? We were fighting by ourselves out there with no powers." He blamed Tommy for Carri's disappearance. Whether it was right or wrong he couldn't help it. If Tommy had shown up earlier she might not have been taken.

"We were here." Tommy said. He thought about defending himself but he knew there was no point. Anytime something ranger related happened to Kim he had been in a panic and he imagined Rocky felt the same way. He'd just tell him the truth and like it or not he'd have to deal with it. "Zordon wanted us to stay away from the monster. One touch and you're sent to his virtual reality world."

"You could have warned us!" Rocky exclaimed. He didn't understand why their mentor at least wouldn't let them do that.

Kat frowned. She didn't like the idea that it got Carri anymore than he did. "Zordon didn't want us to go down there and get stuck in his virtual reality world before we got a chance to help get the baseball team free. We were trying to figure it out how to avoid his trap. You guys were holding off the cogs. And we didn't think you would fight him. But then he took Carri so..." She let her voice trail off.

Rocky mumbled a few choice words under his breath but before he could say anything Alpha spoke. "Rangers please take a look." The little robot spoke as he gestured toward their viewing screen. "We have found a way to see Carri, we are just unable to get to her."

Everyone quickly turned to see what was going on. They were relieved to see Carri was alright physically. Although it was evident by the look on her face that she didn't understand or care for exactly what was going on.

* * *

Quite unaware that she was being spied on by her friends, Carri was wondering around looking at her surroundings. "Zordon never said this could happen when they asked me to be a ranger." She said to no one in particular.

She found herself walking to see where this place ended, where the walls were. If it even had walls. It was quite confusing. It was a giant black room with green grid lines. "It kind of reminds me of a blank virtual reality room." She said aloud. She'd played with virtual reality before. Her brother loved video games and their father had hooked him up.

Carri continued to walk around the room. Without warning she fell sharply. Thinking quickly she reached her hand back, barely nabbing the ledge on the way down. She pulled herself back up and rolled onto her back, lying on the floor for a moment while her heart stopped racing.

"Guess I found the end." She didn't know why she kept speaking aloud. Perhaps if she heard her own voice she wouldn't feel so alone.

With a sigh Carri pulled herself back to a standing position and continued to wander around the room, occasionally trying her communicator or her zeonizers and praying that one of them would miraculously work.

* * *

"Poor Carri." Kat said as she pulled her arms around her chest and tugged at her sides. It was hard to see her cousin like that.

"We have to do something!" Rocky exclaimed. What if something happened to her in there? She almost fell a few seconds ago.

Adam glanced over at his friend. He was sympathetic. If something happened to Tanya he didn't know what he would do. He supposed he was lucky in that sense. During her tenure as a ranger Tanya was never captured or disappeared or anything like this. "I agree. But what?"

Tommy thought hard about the situation. "I don't know. We have to" he stopped short as the alarm went off.

"Rangers Vengetron has returned and is unleashing his terror in the park." Zordon quickly pointed out the scene that had yet to appear on the viewing screen.

"We're on our way." Tommy said as he shifted gears. "It's morphin time!"

"Zeo ranger one, pink!"

"Zeo ranger three, blue!"

"Zeo ranger four, green!"

"Zeo ranger five, red!"

* * *

As the rangers arrived on scene they saw Vengetron running around trying to grab innocents he could add to his collection.

"Remember don't let him touch you." Tommy pointed out. He wasn't sure how to do that, after all they'd have to get in his way to keep him out of the civilians path.

The rangers agreed and they quickly rushed to take care of the Cogs that had arrived and formed a protective circle around Vengetron. They were taken care of easily as usual and they immediately turned their attention to the monster.

"Now it's your turn." Tommy threatened.

Vengetron laughed. "How soon you forget. I control the fate of your friend." Not that they could alter her fate but they didn't need to think about that.

"What if we hit him with our blasters?" Adam suggested.

Tommy thought about it for a moment. With Carri locked in his VR world he wasn't sure if hitting him would help or hurt their situation. "Billy can we hit it?" he asked as he quickly opened up the lines of communication.

"If you want to get Carri back you have to destroy the VR world. Blasting him won't be enough. And if you start to destroy him you run the risk of Mondo stepping in and removing Carri and who knows if you'd be able to find her." Billy explained quickly. "The final decision is yours."

"Let's blast him." Rocky said with determination. He would put every ounce of energy he had into destroying that monster so that he could free Carri.

"Ok." Tommy said simply. As rangers they couldn't just stand here and let him continue on, terrorizing Angel Grove's citizens.

With Tommy's words of agreement the team wasted no time pulling out their blasters and hitting Vengetron as hard as they possibly could.

* * *

Carri found herself continuing to walk around aimlessly. Mainly because it kept her busy, focused and calm. She hoped her friends would hurry up and rescue her. As soon as she got out of there she planned on making Vengetron regretting the day he was made.

Without warning the world around her started to shake. Carri steadied herself and glanced around, noticing almost at once that there was a small opening in the grid. Immediately she went for her wrist and tried to teleport. When that didn't work she hoped that maybe there was enough of an opening that maybe she could at least morph.

"It's morphin time!" she hollered. Much to her surprise her zeonizers appeared immediately on her wrists. "Zeo ranger two, yellow!"

Carri was stoked that she was morphed. Whether or not it was going to do her any good she didn't know. But it did bring her a ton of new energy and she was more determined than ever to find a way out of there.

* * *

Outside the rangers stood, watching as Vengetron looked as though something was draining his energy. They weren't sure what it was, surely their blasters didn't have that effect. Within seconds Vengetron was on the floor.

"Do you think…" Rocky let his voice trail off. He wasn't really sure what he thought.

Adam went to stand beside Rocky. He knew what he was thinking. This might be their only chance. "Let's get him."

Tommy watched as the two rangers ran toward the fallen monster. He wasn't sure if this was a good idea. Who knew how long Vengetron would be down. Momentarily frozen he contemplated what the best course of action would be. He watched as the one sided fight started and mind made up he ran to join them.

Before Tommy could get close Vengetron regained his strength, standing and grabbing Rocky and Adam to send them to the VR world. "No!" Tommy yelled, stopping momentarily and gripping his weapon tightly in his hands. He had to fight for his friends.

As Tommy started once more Kat's voice came through loud and clear. "Tommy no! We have to retreat!"

Knowing that Kat was right Tommy came to his senses. "This isn't over." He promised as he stopped dead in his tracks. He then teleported out with Kat right behind him before Earth's last two rangers could get taken.

* * *

Rocky and Adam found themselves appearing in the virtual reality world. "We were doing so well." Adam said with a sigh. There was no indication that he was regaining his strength. One minute he was on the ground, the next he was grabbing a hold of them.

"Never mind that." Rocky replied. None of it mattered at the moment. "We need to find Carri."

It took ten minutes of walking around the boring virtual reality world before they finally spotted her. "Carri!" Rocky yelled, watching as her morphed head snapped toward them.

As soon as Carri recognized her visitors she ran over to them. "How did you guys get here?" she questioned as she threw her arms around Rocky.

"Vengetron's energy was suddenly drained and we thought we could take him." Rocky quickly explained, glad to have Carri with him again even if they were morphed and stuck in some sort of virtual reality world.

Adam quickly finished the rest of the story. "Then he was suddenly back at full power, and you can guess what happened then."

Carri let go of Rocky and took a step back as she thought about it. "I'll bet when I morphed I drained some of his power."

"Why didn't you morph earlier?" Rocky asked curiously.

"I couldn't." She spoke quickly and cocked her head at him, making a face he couldn't see as though she thought the answer would be obvious. "Not until there was a sudden energy loss anyway."

"Our blasters." Adam supplied. That made the most sense. It was obvious that with the hit from the blasters the monster had taken some damage.

Carri nodded. She didn't really care what the cause was, she had just been thrilled to find herself with some sort of advantage in this place. "Anyway." She stated, ready to switch to what was the more important issue at hand. "I've been combing this place over and I have an idea. Let me show you what I found after the blast." Carri started to walk off as Adam and Rocky looked at each other and shrugged before following.

* * *

"What are we going to do now?" Kat asked, not attempting to mask the worry in her voice. It was bad enough when Carri was gone, now they had lost three of their teammates.

"I'm not sure." Billy replied. He had been theorizing nonstop since Vengetron first came on the scene. So far he hadn't come up with anything good, only a piece of bad news. "What I do know is that the blast you administered destroyed the signal we were picking up on through the viewing screen."

"So we can't see them anymore?" Tommy questioned, trying to make sure he got the gist of what Billy was saying.

"Correct." Billy replied with a frown.

Zordon looked at his remaining to rangers as their facial expressions grew sourer. "All we can do now is wait until he attacks again."

The two rangers sighed. Neither liked anything that was going on. As Billy joined Alpha to try to work on their current problem, Kat and Tommy both leaned against the consoles, hoping they'd have answers soon.

* * *

Carri arrived at her destination spot, which appeared to be some sort of mountainous looking spike in the floor. "Look." She said as she pointed toward it.

"What about it?" Rocky questioned, wondering what in the world she thought she came up with.

Carri let out an annoyed grunt. "Can you not see the obvious outline of a door?"

"I see it." Adam said as he squinted his eyes and tried to make out the shape Carri was referencing.

"Well… I guess…" Rocky really wasn't sure if he saw it and he couldn't help but wonder if she'd been in this VR world too long.

She crossed her arms over her chest. She was right and she was going to prove it to them. "I think it's our ticket out of here."

"Assuming that's a door, I don't suppose you have the key?" Rocky questioned. He was wondering how much longer they should keep this up until they moved on to something that was going to help them more.

"As a matter of fact I do." Carri replied, scowling at him from behind her helmet. Moving her leg back she quickly went into a side kick, making contact with the spot that she was calling a door.

The boys watched and were both surprised as the spot on the wall was actually a door and it did actually swing open. "How did you know that would happen?" Adam questioned.

"Lucky guess." She said with a self satisfied look on her face. "Besides I had to shut Rocky up somehow." She teased as she stepped forward and peered through the black space that was behind the door. Adam and Rocky came up beside her and looked at the vast and never ending space as well. Carri was the first of the three to step back and speak. "I say we jump."

"Are you nuts?" Rocky questioned. The door was one thing but this is a completely different level of insanity.

"I suppose you have a better idea?" Carri questioned. She was going to follow through with her idea even if it wasn't world's greatest. Of course she'd be happy to hear any suggestions.

"Well… no." Rocky replied. Her idea was still insane. But it was the only idea any of them had.

Adam glanced over at Carri. "I'm with you." He wasn't ruling out that it was crazy either. But they couldn't stay in here. Mondo had too much control over this universe and they could be lost to the outside world forever unless they did something.

"Ok then it's settled." Carri said as she walked to the edge of the doorway. She stuck both hands behind her, waiting for the others to join in.

Adam was the first to grab one of her hands. "Rangers stick together."

Rocky sighed. He was still uncertain about this. "Even if we don't always agree with each other." He said as he came up and grabbed her other hand. He wasn't going to let the two of them do this alone.

"Well." Carri said looking down. She was nervous but she was going to do this. "The only thing left to do now is to jump."

"Alright. On three." Rocky said looking at the others. "One… two… three!"

As the words left his mouth the three of them leaped into the darkness. The rangers fell for what felt like ages before it seemed as though a bottom was coming up. They weren't sure what to think as the green grid lines hit them.

In a split second they were brought out of the virtual reality world. They looked up and quickly realized they were in the center of the enemy camp. "Hello." Carri said giving the bad guys a little wave as they all quickly stood.

"What the…" Mondo found himself at a loss of words. How in the world did the rangers escape?

"Well, gotta go." Rocky said as they all wasted no time teleporting themselves away.

"Get them!" Mondo barked at his minions. As the Cogs approached the streaks of light flew away. By the time they got there it was much too late. He turned toward his monster, furious. "You let them escape. Get down there and fix this now!"

Vengetron nodded. "Yes sir." He said as he teleported himself down to the surface.

* * *

"Hey guys." Carri said nonchalantly as they arrived in the Power Chamber.

Tommy jumped up and looked at the trio curiously. "How did you escape?" he questioned, unable to believe they were here.

"Long story. We'll tell you later." Rocky said as the alarms started going off. "Right now we've got a monster to finish."

"Aye ai ai!" Alpha exclaimed as they were shifting into ranger mode.

"What is it?" Kat questioned, the members of the team stopping to look at the little robot.

"It appears as though King Mondo has used Kevin from your baseball team as the life of his monster. His anger and jealousy were enough fuel to make him evil." Alpha explained his recent discovery.

"Aw man. So how do we save Kevin?" Carri asked, although part of her thought her life would be better without him. But she was a ranger which made saving him a priority.

"I believe that destroying the monster will put things back to normal." Alpha said. They had worked hard on the research in the little time they had and it seemed as though this was the best course of action.

"Then it's settled. We destroy it." Tommy said turning to look at his team. "It's back to action!"

* * *

As soon as the rangers arrived Vengetron was ready. "You can't get me." He said with an evil laugh as Klank and Orbus made him grow. "I will squash you now!"

Tommy ignored his threat. It was as if monsters didn't realize they had zords. The team moved out of the way of his foot before he called for them. "We need zeo zord power now!"

Vengetron was quite unimpressed as the rangers got into their zords and brought them together. "How soon you forget, all I have to do is touch you and I win."

"Not so fast!" Carri yelled out, pissed about him putting her in that virtual world to begin with. "I have a bone to pick with you!"

Vengetron laughed at her. "Ooh I'm scared." He said sarcastically.

"Zeo sword, power up!" Tommy called out. The sword fell into the hands of the rangers and with one quick motion Vengetron went down.

As sparks from the destruction of the monster flew through the air, the rangers jumped out of their zords. They ran to the area that the monster fell to where they found a rather confused Kevin.

"Are you alright?" Tommy asked him as they helped him up.

"Yeah. But I don't remember anything after meeting King Mondo." Kevin confessed as he allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. Looking around he quickly realized who his rescuers were and for a moment everything was forgotten. "Wow! The power rangers!"

"Mondo used you as a monster." Carri said, trying to snap him back into reality. "You had jealousy and rage that made you an easy target."

"Oh man." Kevin said with a sigh. "Look whatever I did, I didn't mean to." He'd seriously have to think about what it was that made him a target for Mondo.

"That's ok." Rocky said, declining to mention that if he hadn't been such a jerk toward Carri he probably wouldn't have been tapped by Mondo in the first place.

The rangers stood there for a moment as Kevin thanked them. Then headed off themselves, back to what they were doing before the interruption.

* * *

Carri walked back onto the baseball field with Rocky and Adam, unsure of what she was going to say to all of her teammates. For the moment she didn't have to say anything as everyone from her team rushed up to her and greeted her.

"Are you ok?" Jake was the first to ask. He'd been more than a little worried.

"I'm fine." She replied giving him a smile. "The power rangers saved me."

"You were rescued by the power rangers!" Mark exclaimed. Despite the fact that they couldn't keep her from getting captured, being rescued by them was still awesome.

Kevin crossed his arms as he approached the back of the pack. "The rangers had to rescue me too. I was the monster."

"Bullshit." Craig said with a laugh. That was the biggest lie they'd heard all year. Before they could continue on with the questions Coach Anderson called for them to regroup.

Kevin was furious as the team was laughing at him and walking away. Taking a deep breath, he pulled himself together and grabbed Carri as she was walking by.

"Yes?" Carri asked, wondering if he hadn't learned his lesson about being a jerk.

"I just wanted to apologize. For being rude." Kevin said. He sighed as he continued to speak. "I was jealous of your talent." The last part was a mumble, he didn't want the rest of the team to know he admitted that.

"Wow." Carri said, genuinely impressed. Maybe Mondo did some good after all. "Thank you."

Kevin gave her a nodded before they both turned their attention toward their coach, who was ready to salvage some sort of practice out of the afternoon.

* * *

As practice came to a close Jake decided he was done being a pansy. He was going to ask Carri out and that was final. The crowd of players thinned and everyone separated, leaving Carri and Jake alone in the dugout.

"Hey Carri." He greeted as he approached her.

Carri turned, startled that someone was still there. She thought she was the last of the group to leave that day. "Hey."

"So." He started, not really sure of what to say. "That must have been quite the experience."

"Yeah. It was… interesting." She didn't have much commentary on the subject. Besides the fact that she couldn't talk about what really happened, she was focused on getting out as fast as she could so she could get some much needed rest.

"Anyway." Jake said, taking a breath. It was now or never. "I was thinking maybe we could go to the movies Friday night."

"Friday night?" Carri questioned as she thought about it. She was only half paying attention. Otherwise she would've picked up on the signals. As it was she assumed he wanted to hang out as a friend. She'd already had some of the other guys on the team who wouldn't dare move in on her try and get her to grab celebratory burgers with them. "I'm busy Friday night. Maybe we can hang another time?"

"Like when?" he questioned, excited at the idea of planning a date with her.

Carri shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe next weekend?"

"Great. I'll talk to you later." Jake replied as he practically skipped away.

"Yup. Later." Carri said before turning her full attention back to what she was doing so she could finish getting her stuff together and she could get out of there.

* * *

Much to the rangers delight, Thursday and Friday went by interruption free. There were no Cog attacks driving them crazy and no monsters to battle against. The team was thrilled at the idea of being able to relax and enjoy their Friday night activities.

"We're outtie." Carri said to the small group that had gathered in the Hillard's living room. She and Rocky were on their way to the movies.

"Bye." Kat called out, giving them a slight wave as they walked out the door. She quickly turned her attention back to the boys, whom she was spending a stay at home movie night with. "So what tape did you rent?"

"GoldenEye." Tommy confirmed the film that he and Adam had chosen the day before.

"Bond?" Kat questioned. Her father loved Bond movies but she had never gotten into them.

"James Bond." Adam replied in an attempt to mimic the spy. Neither he nor Tommy had seen the film, which was out in theaters a little less than a year ago.

"Fine." Kat said, giving the two male rangers a slight grin.

"It will be good." Adam assured her as he inserted the tape into the VCR. He sat back on the couch and anxiously awaited the beginning of the movie.

* * *

"Back two seats?" Rocky questioned as he ushered his girlfriend into the theater.

"Duh." Carri said with a laugh. They sat in the same two seats every time they came to the movies if they could help it.

They sat down about five minutes before the movie started. Both of them leaned back and watched as the ads flipped across the screen. Rocky made a face as one for a new mall in San Francisco popped up. "Why are they trying to get us to drive all the way out there for a mall?" he asked aloud.

"Because they don't think our malls are good enough." Carri said with a smile as she thought about how she'd driven much farther than that in the name of shopping. "Which they aren't. So later." She said as she stood.

Rocky grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back down. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Shopping. In San Francisco. Duh." She replied as she grinned over at him.

"You and Kat can go tomorrow night. Tonight you're stuck with me." He teased her.

"Nope." Carri said as she shook her head. "Tomorrow me and Kat are going ice skating."

"Ice skating? Seriously?" Rocky questioned as if it were the most absurd thing that anyone would want to do.

"I haven't gone in years. It will be fun." Carri quickly defended her decision. "Except, you know, when miss dancer shows me up." She added with a laugh.

"Whatever." Rocky replied, laughing to himself as he thought about how Kat was probably going to skate circles around her. Carri smiled and snuggled up to Rocky, situating herself for when the movie was to start. As she got comfortable Rocky leaned in and kissed her.

The kiss came to a close and Carri looked up, startled to find Jake staring at them. "Hey." She greeted.

"I thought you had plans." Jake let the first thing that came to mind stumble out of his mouth. He really liked her and was hurt to find her here with Rocky.

"Yeah Rocky asked me to the movies a few days ago." Carri replied. She was finally starting to get the hint that maybe he was into her as more than just a friend or teammate.

Jake glanced back and forth between the two of them. "So I take it this isn't a team thing?"

Rocky made a face. "Why would it be?" He was more oblivious than Carri to Jake's interest. Although, in his defense, he wasn't around much while the two of them were together.

"You didn't know we were dating." Carri said simply. She watched as Jake shook his head no. She couldn't help but feel bad for him. "I'm sorry, I assumed you knew. That was the only reason I was there for tryouts."

"Oh." Jake mumbled before turning and fleeing for seats several rows away from the duo. He couldn't believe he had been so stupid. He was probably the only one who didn't know they were dating.

"I should probably go talk to him." Carri said as they watched him sulk into a seat.

"Yeah." Rocky agreed. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised. With everything going on over the past week it was no wonder Carri was oblivious. It was too bad she hadn't realized it before now.

"Hey." Carri said as she walked over and took the empty seat next to Jake. She wasn't really sure what she was going to tell him. This sort of conversation was out of her area of expertise.

"Go away." Jake said, although that was the opposite of how he actually felt. But she had a boyfriend and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Look," Carri started as she thought about it for a moment, "don't beat yourself up over this. I should have told you earlier. It's my fault."

Jake let out a sigh. "I'm not beating myself up. It's just… well…" He paused for a moment. He wanted to tell her that he really liked her and really thought they could have a chance but he skipped over that thought and went on to the next one. "I'm mad at myself for not figuring it out earlier. I mean, why else would you have been there Saturday? And Rocky was the one who stuck up for you the most against Kevin."

"I'm sorry this whole thing got mixed up." Carri said giving him a smile. "We can still be friends though."

"Yeah. Friends." Jake replied. He was still going to want something more but it was obvious that she wasn't interested.

Carri stood up to head back to her seat. She started to turn toward the aisle but changed her mind. "You want to join us?" She was looking forward to her date but she didn't want to leave Jake down here to sulk by himself.

"No thanks. I don't want to be in the way of your date." Jake replied. Mainly he didn't want to watch her cuddle up to Rocky and sneak kisses in throughout the movie. It would only make his mood worse.

Carri shrugged. "You really wouldn't be." He wouldn't be the first male to tag along with her and Rocky to the movies.

"I'm going to stay down here." Jake replied as he smiled up at her. "You go ahead."

"Fine." Carri said not trying to let her irritation show. He was just going to sit down here and pout about not being at the movies with her. But she supposed if he really liked her that much he wouldn't want to sit with her and Rocky. "I'll talk to you later." She said, turning and walking back up toward Rocky to take her seat before the movie started.

* * *

The next morning four of the five rangers found themselves sitting in the Hillard's kitchen with nothing to do. The only one missing was Rocky, and he was at work. They sat there in silence for a few moments before Kat spoke.

"What do you guys want to do today?" Kat asked, glancing around at her friends. Sitting here like this was going to drive her crazy.

"Oh, idea." Carri said with a grin.

Tommy looked at her curiously. "What?"

"Let's go to the Youth Center!" She said it with enough enthusiasm that one would think the group of rangers never went to the youth center. But the look on her face gave her away. It was the suggestion they had every time there was nothing else to do.

"When was the last time anyone went there?" Tommy asked as he grinned at Carri, playing off of the tone in her voice.

Adam glanced between his to friends and decided it was his turn to jump in. "I say we go. I mean what if it has changed since the last time we went?"

"Why not." Kat said with a shrug. It was probably the best idea they'd come up with for the moment. "We can gossip and you boys can do that thing you do."

"You're right." Adam said as he turned his focus toward Tommy. "You owe me one Oliver."

"One what? Beating?" Tommy questioned with a grin. He knew Adam was jumping for another chance to spar since they got interrupted the other day. It was the first time that afternoon that Adam was winning, although Tommy wouldn't admit that out loud.

"One round." Adam said as he leaned into the table. "And I'm the one who owes you a beating."

"I don't think you'll beat him." Carri teased. She knew Adam had a shot.

Adam crossed his arms over his chest. "Great a pessimist."

"Come on." Tommy said as he stood. "The quicker we get there the quicker I can get this whipping over with."

"You're on." Adam said as he jumped up as well.

The male rangers led the march out of the Hillard's household. Kat and Carri simply laughed and shook their heads as they followed them. The group piled into Tommy's car so they could head to the Youth Center and enjoy a nice, peaceful Saturday.


	3. Oh Brother

**Disclaimer:** The rangers are Disney's, everyone else is mine.  
**Author's Notes:** This is the premiere of this fic on this website. Hope you all enjoy.  
Also just a few plot notes. I have been going through Ranger Scrolls and looking at the stories that correlate with the Zeo season and trying to place the fics in the timeline. I think I half did it when I first wrote them twelve years ago so now I am trying to fix it all and make it so that everything fits correctly. Which in some cases means swapping events around in the Zeo timeline to make things work with my fics. So the Zeo episode before this fic is "A Few Bad Seeds". Billy will leave shortly after this in "Graduation Blues". I know those episodes are swapped in the official timeline, but later on in Legacy I have Billy referencing events of "A Few Bad Seeds" which means he had to be there.

Ranger Scrolls  
"Oh Brother"

Kat walked inside with the day's mail. She thumbed through the letters and noticed one addressed to her cousin. Glancing over toward the living room she saw Carri sitting on the couch watching TV. "This came for you." She said as she tossed her the envelope.

Carri barely had time to register what Kat was doing as the envelope hit her in the chest. "Thanks." She said as she went to open it.

As Carri was glancing at the folded paper in the letter Kat's curiosity got the best of her. "Who's it from?" she asked as she went to sit down beside her. There had been no return address on the envelope.

"Hang on I'm getting there." Carri replied as she went to open the letter up. She glanced at it for a second before she read it aloud. "Dear Carri. Ok so I know it has been a while since we've talked. It's my fault. Actually it's both of our faults because you could have written me too. But this letter is not for blame. I'm writing to let you know that I'll be coming for a visit. It's my fall break and for some crazy reason I want to come see you. I can meet the friends you claim you have. And I was hoping I could crash with you. I'll sleep on the couch – whatever. I'll be there Friday. My plane should come in at five. See you then. Love, Josh."

Kat shook her head. "It's Wednesday. At least he's given us some notice." Although with Josh she shouldn't be that surprised.

"I can't believe Josh is coming." Carri said, thrilled at being able to see her older brother. He was right, they hadn't talked in forever.

Kat thought about it for a moment. "You know I haven't seen Josh since the last time I visited you."

"It will be good." Carri replied with a smile. "Now if we're going to make that movie, we need to get moving."

"Yeah." Kat agreed as she glanced down at her watch. "I've heard it's really good."

"Me too." Carri agreed standing and going to grab her jacket. Kat stood as well and the ranger girls collected everything they needed before taking off.

* * *

The next afternoon the ranger group was meeting at the Youth Center after school as they usually did. Those that had arrived were gathered around one of the tables. For once no one was on the sparring mats, but Adam had plans to head over there as soon as Billy arrived.

As the table buzz quieted, Carri suddenly remembered the letter she had gotten in the mail the previous afternoon. "Guess what." She said as she glanced around at her friends.

Rocky looked at her curiously. "What?" he questioned, wondering what she was having them guess that he didn't already know.

"Josh is coming for a visit." Carri said with a grin. She was stoked. She couldn't help it, she missed her brother.

"Josh?" Tommy questioned glancing over at her. "As in your brother?"

"The one and only." Carri confirmed.

"I bet you're happy." Adam said, although it was obvious from her excitement level that she was thrilled.

"Duh." Carri replied with a grin. "It has been almost two months since I've seen him." It was weird not having her brother around. He had kept her sane about a lot of things after they moved to New York. Although she doubted she would have seen much of him if she had stayed seeing as how he was the big college boy now.

"I don't know if I want to see him." Kat said. Carri immediately shot her a look and Kat grinned. "I mean, he's so obnoxious."

Rocky couldn't help but laugh. "It probably just runs in the family."

Carri glared at both her cousin and her boyfriend. "What are you guys implying?"

"You know we all love you." Tommy said with a grin. Carri was easy to jab with and as it was all good natured she handled it well.

Adam leaned back in his chair, a sly look on his face. "Whatever." He spoke softly as if he didn't want Carri to hear but loud enough that she could.

Tommy burst out laughing as Billy approached the table. The former blue ranger went to stand in between his friends as he glared at their amused reactions. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing." Rocky said with a shrug. "Well you know. The usual." He glanced toward his girlfriend who crossed her arms and huffed.

"Picking on Carri again?" Billy questioned. From the look on her face it was quite obvious they were, although it didn't seem to be truly upsetting her. "You know if you keep on this up it could lead to her being traumatized for life."

"Yeah." Carri chimed in, arms still firm across her chest. She played mad well even though the others knew she could care less. "I mean am I that easy to pick on?"

As Tommy nodded his head yes, Rocky put his arm around her. "You know we do it out of love, right?"

"Yeah." Carri said as she grinned wickedly at him. "Besides Josh is coming to town and if I thought otherwise he'd kick the crap out of all of you." Not that she couldn't do her own kicking but it was fun to point out.

As the conversation died down Billy turned his attention toward Adam. "I have been working on some of the moves Tommy showed me. I think I am more than equipped to beat you."

"I'm glad to hear you've been practicing. And you're welcome to give it your best shot." Adam replied with a grin. "I just wouldn't hold my breath if I was you." It was always fun competition when they were going to spar against each other. And sometimes they made jabs toward each other along the way, always in good fun.

Billy quickly stood. "I accept your challenge."

Adam smiled as he stood as well. "Alright then, let's do it." He said as he and Billy took off to go get changed.

Kat glanced around at the rangers remaining at their table. "So what are you guys doing this afternoon?"

The red ranger shrugged his shoulders. He hadn't really given it much thought. He usually stuck around the Youth Center in the afternoons and he figured he might as well watch his friends spar. "I think I'm going to check out the Cranson-Park showdown."

"I'm going home to watch my siblings." Rocky spoke. Usually his youngest siblings stayed in afterschool programs until his mom got off of work, but there was apparently some sort of problem that was going to need serious disinfecting and the kids were going to be sent home. His neighbors were bringing his siblings home and he was going to go watch them.

"I have to… to…" Carri let her voice trail off as she simply shrugged her shoulders. She had no plans for the afternoon. She wished it was warmer outside; she'd go be a vegetable on the beach for a while.

"Come with me?" Rocky filled in a response for her. There was no particular reason for her to, but his siblings liked her and she could keep him company.

"Sure why not." Carri replied. It was better than the nothing she had on her plate.

"What about you?" Tommy questioned, glancing toward Kat. She had been the one to start up the conversation yet she hadn't offered any sort of answer.

"Me?" Kat questioned, sounding surprised that she was asked. "I'm going to go work with my dance students."

"Have fun." Tommy said with a smile.

"I will." Kat replied, smiling back at him. She knew he was being friendly when he smiled but she desperately wanted there to be more there. "I always do. I love those kids, they're so cute."

Carri let out a laugh. "Yeah but then they grow up. And we are prime examples of what happens then."

Rocky chuckled at her comment before standing. "We need to get going." He said as he gave her a little tug on the arm.

With the tug Carri pulled herself to her feet. "Alright. See you guys later." They started for the door and Carri turned her head back around. "Let us know who wins."

"I will." Tommy called out after them as Kat stood as well.

"I need to head out too so I'm not late." She said, saying goodbye to Tommy before leaving him alone to wait for Billy and Adam.

* * *

It was a beautiful fall day and Rocky and Carri found them-selves heading toward the DeSantos' household. For the first few minutes of the trip they simply enjoyed the atmosphere, but it wasn't long before Rocky decided to bring up what was nipping at him.

"So your brother's coming here?" he tried to question her as casually as possible as he glanced over toward her.

"Yup." Carri replied as she grinned. "He's coming to see what's going on, meet my friends. It will be fun."

"I'm not sure if I want to meet your brother." Rocky admitted out loud. He was nervous about being judged by her brother. Truthfully he was nervous about meeting any of her immediate family. It was different with her aunt and uncle; he knew them before they started dating.

"Why not?" Carri asked, her tone getting defensive as she crossed her arms over her chest. She loved her brother and if they were going to date, Rocky was going to have to meet him.

Rocky wasted no time jumping into an explanation. He didn't want her to think he had something against her brother. "I'm a big brother, I know how this works. Big brothers aren't supposed to like little sister's boyfriends, we're protective. And I know when my sisters' start dating I'll probably won't like most of the guys they go out with."

"You think Josh won't like you? Please. You guys are going to be friends." She paused for a moment, thinking about how that might be true as they did share similar interest. "Besides he never has had a problem with any of the guys I've brought home. Except for the last few." Her voice trailed off and Rocky sighed.

"That's what I'm talking about." He quickly pointed out. "You're getting older now and he's more protective. I'm telling you, this isn't going to end well."

Carri made a noise and threw her arms up in the air. He hadn't liked her last boyfriend because, well, even she didn't like her last boyfriend. David was a lot of things to her but she wasn't sure if good was one of them. As for the serious boyfriend before that, he was a different more complex story. Josh liked him well enough, he just wasn't sure if he liked him dating her.

"You're making a big deal out of nothing." She said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "He won't hate you. And if he does he'll have to deal with me. In fact I'd be surprised if he hated you. You're charming, and cute, and I like you."

Rocky looked at his girlfriend before rolling his eyes. "Somehow I don't think your brother will see the same qualities in me."

Carri let out a laugh. "Maybe not the cute part. His girlfriend would get jealous."

Rocky let out a sigh. She may be able to make light of the situation, but he was going to take it seriously. She wasn't the one who had to be worried about being judged. "You can think whatever you want. I know what I know. We'll just have to see what happens."

"You'll see." Carri said with a devilish grin. "I'll be right and you'll be wrong."

"You wish." Rocky said with grin of his own. "You're never right."

"Hey!" Carri exclaimed as she reached over and lightly punched him in the arm. Although she wasn't always right, the one thing she was usually right about was people. And she knew her brother. "I'm always right. You'll see."

"Whatever." Rocky said as he put an arm around her. "Let's not argue about this anymore."

"Fine." Carri replied as she made herself comfortable beside him. "We'll just wait and see." With that they both let the subject drop as they made their way to the DeSantos' household.

* * *

Tommy watched, whistling as Billy got Adam to the floor. "Billy really got you with that one." He called out the obvious.

Adam grunted as he rolled to his side and stood back up before Billy got a chance to end it there. "One lucky shot."

"One, two, three…" Tommy's voice trailed off as he laughed.

Billy smiled as Adam worked his way back into a fighting stance. "Sparring is all about science. The right angles, force and momentum all help with the win." He had spent a lot of time researching the science behind it all. He knew if he could put the appropriate level of training behind the science that he'd be quite good.

Tommy shrugged. He supposed science could influence the outcome. But that wasn't what gave him wins. "Or it's the strongest person with the most skill."

"Well if I win it will be thanks to science." Billy said as he and Adam started circling each other and trying to issue kicks.

They both backed off after a few missed attempts and reset themselves. "That's right because if I win, it's because I'm the person with the most skill and strength here."

Tommy cleared his throat and Adam looked over at him. "Strongest and most skilled on the mat." He corrected with a smile.

"You just wait Oliver. I am going to take you down one of these days." Adam sounded threatening, but Tommy recognized it for the good natured jab that it was and he smiled.

"Maybe. But by that time I'll be dead and you'll be out of luck." Tommy finished speaking as Adam let out a loud "ha".

"Arguing isn't going to get us anywhere." Billy pointed out as he took a swing at Adam, who ducked.

"You're right." Adam replied, taking a missed swing of his own. "Let's just fight."

"Agreed." Billy replied as the sparring started to get more intense.

Tommy watched the rivalry intently as Adam landed a roundhouse kick that sent Billy staggering back. "Can I charge admission?"

"I don't believe that's appropriate." Billy replied, regaining his composure as he went back after Adam.

The fight continued to go back and forth between the two, both dealing out their fair share of hits and misses. Finally with one swift motion, Billy took Adam down for good. Billy leaned down and helped Adam up before stepping off of the mat. "It's all about science."

"Hang on I'll go get you guys some drinks." Tommy said as Billy and Adam made their way to his table. They sat and he stepped up to the counter, getting a few bottled waters before returning and passing them around.

"I told you science was better than skill." Billy said as he cracked open the cap and took a gulp.

Adam finished taking his own gulp and set the water down before speaking. "Not science, luck. I just had a bad day, that's all."

"Science." Billy replied in order to make his point.

"Luck." Adam quickly countered.

"Science."

"Luck."

"Science."

"Lu"

"Enough!" Tommy exclaimed, cutting Adam off. He smiled at them before continuing. "I can beat the both of you so it doesn't matter. Now I'm getting out of here before you both drive me crazy."

Adam took another gulp of his water and replaced his cap. "I think I'm heading out with you."

"I will as well." Billy said with a smile. "Alpha won't be needing me for a while."

"Fine." Tommy said, shooting a look at each of them. "But not one word about science or luck."

Adam and Billy promised, and satisfied Tommy stood, the others standing quickly as well before they all headed out of the Youth Center.

* * *

Much like any afternoon, Carri, Rocky and Adam found themselves walking toward their last classes together. And like every other day, they were deep in conversation, with Adam working hard to argue his point.

"I'm telling you it was luck." Adam said with a sigh as Rocky and Carri approached their classroom door.

Rocky shook his head. "Adam you lost. End of story."

"You got beat by the better party." Carri jumped in. She didn't like losing either, but that didn't mean she was going to drive the world nuts when she did.

Adam let out an annoyed grunt. "I didn't get beat, he got lucky."

"I told you he was getting annoying." Tommy said as he approached the trio from the opposite direction. Adam and Billy's promise hadn't lasted long the night before and he thought he'd have to end up killing one of them.

"Adam, you've been talking about this since lunch. Give it up." Rocky said as the minute bell rang. "Besides you've only got a minute to get to class."

Adam looked his friends over. "Bye guys." He said quickly before jogging diagonally across the hall to get to his class.

Carri and Rocky followed Tommy into the classroom as everyone sat in their usual seats. "One more class then it's the weekend." Carri said as if the others weren't aware of that already.

Kat grinned at her cousin. "And what an exciting weekend it will be since Josh will be here."

"Five o'clock." Carri said with a grin. She missed her brother. Even though she was becoming close enough to the other rangers that they were like her family, it didn't mean that she didn't want some quality time with her brother.

"You know," Tommy's thought was abruptly cut off by the bell. He closed his mouth and looked up front, his thought not having been that important.

Ms. Appleby smiled out over her students as she started her class. "Good afternoon." She paused, waiting as they greeted her in reply. "Today we are going to start working on some of the gas laws."

The students groaned and leaned back in their seats. At least there was only one more class before the weekend.

* * *

After their thrilling chemistry class Carri and Kat found themselves sitting at one of the tables at the Youth Center while the boys sparred. "So what time are you leaving?" Kat asked.

"About four twenty." Carri replied. That would give her plenty of time to get to the airport and pick up her brother.

"Sounds good." Kat said as she turned her gaze toward the mats, where the boys were doing some sort of tag team sparring with Rocky and Tommy taking on Billy and Adam. She sighed longingly as she watched Tommy spar before dismissing the thought.

Carri followed Kat's gaze, wondering briefly how long her cousin was going to drool over a taken man. She knew Kat had fawned over their leader for a long time. But as long as he still had a girlfriend in Florida, Kat wouldn't make a move. Deciding not to ponder too much on the issue, Carri spoke. "Looks like they're having fun."

"Yeah. Even Adam and Billy are enjoying themselves. And they're getting crushed." Kat said with a laugh that Carri quickly joined in on.

Before Carri could comment the front door of the Youth Center burst open and a man walked through. Carri immediately stood and crossed her arms over her chest as he spoke. "I'm here now; you need to clear out of my Youth Center."

"You're Youth Center?" Carri said as she raised an eyebrow and took a few steps toward him. "I've got news for you. This is my town, my high school, and my Youth Center."

The stranger huffed and rolled his eyes. "Maybe but I'm still bigger than you."

"And I have more friends here than you so I win." Carri replied giving him a cold look as her eyes met his.

The man grinned and Carri couldn't hold up her act any longer. A smile crossed her face as she stepped up toward him and greeted him with a hug. "I thought you weren't getting in until five."

"I caught an earlier flight." Josh Hillard quickly explained to his little sister. "I thought it would be much more fun to come in here and make an entrance than to have you pick me up at the airport."

"Well you did make an entrance." Carri said as she took a step back and rolled her eyes. "Just like when we were kids."

Josh gave her an annoyed look, shaking his head as he glanced over and saw his cousin standing there. "Kat, it's good to see you." He greeted giving her a hug.

"Good to see you too." Kat said, hugging him back as she took note of how his appearance had changed since the last time she had seen him. "It's been a while."

"It's your fault." Josh said dismissively as he shrugged. "You should've come to visit us in New York."

Carri couldn't help but snort. "That's my brother for you. Always blaming someone else." She shook her head at him and he playfully punched her on the shoulder.

"Always blaming you dear sister there's a difference." He corrected with a grin. That was, after all, what older siblings were best at. She shot him a look and stuck her tongue out and he simply smiled at her, irritating her more. He knew her though; her irritation would pass within seconds. "So where are these friends of yours?"

"This way." Carri said as she and Kat led Josh back to the table they had been occupying earlier. The girls sat down on either side of Josh and Carri gestured to the mats. "Over there…" Her words trailed off as she realized they had disappeared. She huffed, momentarily wondering if they took off to make her feel stupid on purpose.

Kat noticed the look on Carri's face. "I'm sure they went to change. They'll be back." She said, silently agreeing with her cousin that they picked a bad time to take off.

"Whatever." Josh said, crossing his arms over his chest and shaking his head at the two girls. "I come all the way down here to meet these wonderful friends you claim to have, only to find they don't exist."

Carri gave her brother a shrug. "Don't forget about our invisible friend Bob." She said as she gestured to the empty chair at the table. Bob had been a long running joke between the two siblings.

Josh laughed as he looked over toward the chair. "Can't forget about Bob. Hi Bob." He said, giving a slight nod in the chair's direction.

Ernie approached their table, coming up from behind the empty chair, pushing it into the table. Carri snickered as he did so. "You squished Bob." She said giving him a mischievous grin.

Ernie looked from one of the Hillard siblings to the other, not quite sure what they were up to. He let it slide though as Josh laughed at his sister and Carri laughed at herself. "You guys need anything."

"A soda would be great." Josh asked as he glanced over at the Youth Center's owner. It had been a long time since he'd seen Ernie.

Ernie nodded and glanced over at Kat. "Nothing for me." Kat replied with a smile.

Carri shook her head as well. "I'm good. I'm sure Rocky will order when he gets out though." She was teasing her boyfriend although she would be surprised if he didn't order. That boy packed away a lot of food. Where it all went she had no idea.

"Ok." Ernie replied. "It's good to see you Josh." He said as he walked off to get his soda.

"It's good to be here again." Josh commented. Although unlike his sister, he'd actually had fun in New York. Sure there were occasions that he missed Angel Grove but he had adjusted. Carri chattered constantly about how much she missed California. Sometimes he wondered if she hated New York that much or if she hated that her mother had made Carri her pet project once they moved to New York.

"Hey guys." Tommy greeted as he approached the table along with Adam, Rocky and Billy. Kat and Carri said hello as they all grabbed chairs, with Rocky scooting up to next to Carri, and Adam, Tommy and Billy filing in beside of him.

"Guys I'd like you to meet my brother Josh." Carri said, grinning at her friends as she gestured to her brother. "Josh this is Billy Cranston, Tommy Oliver, Adam Park and this is my boyfriend," she paused to link her arm into Rocky's, "Rocky DeSantos."

Josh greeted the guys before turning toward his sister and giving her a little smirk. "Nice to see that my sister actually has friends."

"Actually Kat made us hang out with her." Tommy couldn't help but tease.

Carri let out a frustrated sound as she crossed her arms. "Do you guys have to be so mean?"

Adam grinned at her. "We're not mean. We're you friends, we always tell the truth."

Carri shot him and icy look and Josh laughed. He and Carri had squabbled enough over the years that he knew the difference between her real "I'm going to rip your head of look" and the fake one. This was the fake look. And if these guys could tease her like that and get the fake look, it meant that they were becoming good friends. He was happy that she seemed to be settling back into California. Not that she ever really let her mind leave.

"So who won?" Kat asked, changing the subject and watching as Carri's look loosened up and she scooted up to the table.

"We did." Tommy said with a grin. "I told you strength was better than science and now I've proven it."

"I have to concur. Strength did win out over science this time." Billy said as he thought about it. "As it has only been one match though, I feel as though it's only fair that Adam and I are granted a rematch."

"Ok." Tommy said, glancing over at Rocky for approval. But the blue ranger was unusually silent. Tommy tried to ignore him as he continued. "Same time Monday."

"Sounds good." Adam said as Billy nodded in agreement.

"Yeah." Rocky finally added to the mix.

Ernie came back to the table and handed Josh his beverage. "Anyone else need anything?"

There was a chorus of no's as everyone turned to Rocky. "Why are you all looking at me?" he asked suddenly very self conscious.

Carri couldn't help but laugh. "Because you're usually the one to order."

"I'm not hungry." He lied, watching as Ernie nodded then walked away.

"Whatever." Carri said with a shrug. She was pretty sure there was something else, and she had a good feeling that the something else was Josh, but she'd ask him about that later.

Carri's intuition was right. The truth was that Rocky was too nervous to eat. Or speak or do anything else, especially get near Carri. He couldn't help but notice Josh staring at him. He said a silent prayer that Carri wasn't going to make them hang out together. He couldn't wait to run out of here. He hoped he wouldn't do anything stupid. The last thing he wanted was to make Josh hate him and in turn make Carri hate him.

"So Josh, how long are you in town for?" Rocky asked, trying his best to sound casual.

"Until next weekend." Josh replied. "We have an extended fall break."

Rocky suppressed a groan. This was just perfect. He was going to have to try to act like a perfect gentleman, a smart person, someone Josh would like, for a whole week.

"Great. Then you can catch strength over science part two." Tommy said with a smile.

Josh looked at him like he'd lost his mind and Carri jumped in. "It's a sparring thing Adam and Billy won't let die."

"Don't blame this on us." Adam spoke up in their defense. "Tommy's the one who had to throw his two cents in."

Tommy had a comment about how as a red it was his duty to throw his opinion in but remembering their current company he let it die.

Carri turned to Rocky as she moved away from the sparring topic. "Are we still going out tonight?"

"Yeah." He said flashing her a smile. As long as she didn't bring her brother.

"What are we going to do?" she questioned, waiting a second for a response before continuing. "It doesn't really matter, as long as it's not stupid or pointless." She teased.

Rocky gave her an odd look. Great, now Josh was going to think he didn't take his sister out on good dates. "I wouldn't do anything stupid or pointless. We'll do something you'll like."

Carri shrugged, brushing off the look he gave her. "Fine. I'll just have to wait."

Kat looked deep in thought for a moment as she glanced between Josh and his luggage sitting in the Youth Center doorway. "Maybe we should go get Josh settled in."

"Yeah you're probably right." Carri said as she pulled herself to a standing position. "Come on."

Josh didn't mind staying and getting to know her friends better, but they were probably right. Besides he'd be in town long enough to figure out who she was hanging out with. "Fine." He said as he stood. "It was nice meeting you all."

"See you later." Carri said, leaning over to give Rocky a hug. She was expecting a kiss in return, but what she got instead was the worst excuse for a hug ever. She sighed and turned to the rest of her friends, giving them a little wave before taking off.

Everyone said goodbye then watched as the trio exited the Youth Center. Adam was the first to speak once they were gone. "Ok Rocky what's up? You've hardly said two words since we came back out here."

Rocky gave him a little shrug. "I'm tired that's all." He said not wanting to discuss the real reason.

Tommy looked at him, not believing him for a second. He was full of energy twenty minutes ago. "It's Josh isn't it? You're nervous around your girlfriend's big brother."

"No." Rocky said, shaking his head in denial. "Why would I be?"

"Because older brothers tend to protect their younger sisters especially when it comes to who they are dating." Billy was quick to point out. It was quite evident to those at the table what was making Rocky so nervous. They were just trying to get their friend to admit to it.

"You guys are way off target." Rocky said making a face as he stood. "I gotta go to work for a little while, but I'll talk to you guys later." With that Rocky took off as quick as he could, hoping he wouldn't have to hear an earful from his friends anymore.

Tommy smiled as he left. "You can't blame the guy. If I had a little sister I'd be all over every guy that looked at her twice."

"You know Rocky." Adam said with a shrug. "He'll be over it soon."

"Either that or Josh will leave and it won't matter." Billy chimed in.

"This is why I try to date women without older brothers." Tommy said with a chuckle.

Adam nodded. "It is nice having one less family member to impress." He added thinking of his own relationship with Tanya.

"I need to get going. I have some work I wanted to get done today with Alpha." Billy said, standing as he spoke. The guys said goodbye as Billy took off around the corner to find a secure place to teleport.

"I guess we should get going too." Tommy said with a sigh.

"Yeah probably." Adam replied. With that, the last two rangers exited the Youth Center and headed for home.

* * *

"We suck." Josh moaned at the television. He and his sister were sitting on the couch watching the Braves-Dodgers playoff game. And the Dodgers weren't doing so well.

"At least you're in." Carri griped as she crossed her arms over her chest. "We got booted thanks to a September loss to the Cardinals."

"I know." Josh said, giving his sister an evil grin. "I was sitting in my dorm room laughing at you."

Carri reached behind her back and snatched a couch pillow, whopping Josh on the shoulder with it. "Ass." She said, getting irritated as her brother simply laughed at her. Before she could hit him again the doorbell rang. "I got it." She said standing quickly and making her way to the door.

She flung the door open to see her boyfriend standing on the other side. "Hey." She greeted with a smile, her previous irritation at Josh forgotten.

"Hey." He replied, putting his arms around her and pulling her in for a kiss. He quickly stopped what he was doing when he saw Josh sitting on the couch.

Carri sighed and shook her head. They were going to have to work on this Josh thing. "So where are we going?"

"I thought we could head down to the beach and have dinner." Rocky said with a grin. She adored it anytime he took her to her favorite spot.

"Sounds fun." Carri said grinning at him.

"It will be." He promised as he took her hand in his in order to lead her off.

Carri felt his gentle pull and she squeezed his hand tightly, stopping him for the moment. "I'm out Josh. Don't wait up."

Josh rolled his eyes at his sister as the commercials ended and the game came back. "Whatever you said. Just hush and leave, the game's back on."

"Men." Carri said as she made an irritated sound. Although if it had been an Astros game she would be right along there with him.

As they stepped toward the door the television announcer started talking about Piazza up at bat. Rocky paused and glanced toward Josh. "Are you a Braves fan?"

Josh snorted. "Dodger blue all the way."

"Really?" Rocky questioned, glad they had something in common. Although it made him even more curious as to why Carri was an Astros fan. "I'm a huge Dodger fan myself."

"I guess we'll have to get together sometime." Josh said, pausing in his line of thought to curse at the television as Piazza struck out. "We were going to anyway. You are the one dating my sister."

"Right." Rocky said with a sigh, already dreading that event. He watched as Josh focused back in on the game before leading Carri out the door.

* * *

Later that night Rocky and Carri returned home after an enjoyable time at the beach. "That was fun." Carri said as they walked into the house. The food was great and the company was fantastic.

"Yeah it was." Rocky agreed, grinning at her as he shut the door behind them. He put his arm around his girlfriend as they walked over toward the couch and were greeted by the sounds of Josh mourning over the loss of his Dodgers.

Carri snorted and rolled her eyes. "I don't know which of the two of you is worse."

"Me probably." Rocky admitted, giving her a small smile. He was a lifelong Dodger fan and he hated watching them lose.

"I don't know." She said as she made a face and stared at her brother. "You two may have to compare notes sometime. Because I think Josh has you beat on that one."

Josh laughed as he looked up at his sister, who was trying to subtly glance from him to the stairs. "What? Do you two want some privacy?" he questioned raising an eyebrow. "I don't know." He said with a grin. He was going to leave them alone but he enjoyed giving her a hard time.

Carri looked at him as though she was trying to shoot daggers from her eyes. Rocky noticed her glare and held back a laugh. The world was lucky that wasn't some sort of weird ranger power because she'd use it.

"Fine. You win. I'm going to bed." Josh said as he stood up. "Behave." He warned his sister as he headed toward the stairs. He really doubted they were going to be doing anything wild down there that he might have to kill Rocky for later but he thought he'd throw it in.

"Please." Carri said with a snort. She loved her brother dearly, but she didn't kid herself about some of the things he had been up to. He was the last person to tell her to behave.

"By the way." Josh said stopping on the steps and turning back toward them. "I was thinking that if you're free tomorrow Rocky we should go hang out, talk."

"Well," Rocky said, a sudden wave of nerves hitting him, "I'm working in the morning. But I guess the afternoon would work."

"Sounds good. Why don't you come by here." Josh said as he looked at his sister and grinned. "Seeing as how I have no idea where you live. Although I'm sure my sister probably could tell me five hundred ways to get there from here."

Carri threw a couch pillow at her older brother. "Go away." She said as he deflected the pillow with one hand and it bounced back down the stairs.

"You'll have to do better than that." Josh said with a laugh as he headed up the rest of the stairs and went into the guest room.

Carri rolled her eyes as she pulled Rocky over to the couch and sat down. "Well I guess you'll have fun tomorrow." She said as he slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her toward him.

Rocky gave her a little shrug. "Sure I will." He said, thinking of how much he was dreading the event.

"Aw come on. You guys will be best of friends by the time the day is out." She said, turning toward him and putting her hands around his neck. "Promise."

"I doubt it." Rocky said, watching as her facial features deflated. "But for you I'll give anything a shot."

"Thank you." She said perking up once more. She doubted they'd actually be best friends. She knew Josh would like him though; he had no reason not to.

Instead of telling her you're welcome he pulled her close and shared a long, passionate kiss with his girlfriend. "I need to get going." He said as they pulled back from each other. "I promised I'd pick my brother and sister up from the skating rink and I probably should get some rest before work."

"Did they go disco skating?" Carri asked with a grin, referring to the skating rinks Friday and Saturday late night activity that the middle school kids participated in. She had done it quite a few times herself when she was younger.

"Yeah." Rocky replied with a chuckle. "I'll talk to you tomorrow?"

"Of course." Carri said, leaning in for one last kiss. When they broke apart Rocky said goodbye and she watched him as he disappeared, heading out the door and on his way home.

* * *

The next day Rocky found himself walking nervously up to Carri's front door. This was it, the moment of truth. Either Josh would like him and they would get along or he wouldn't and that would put a firm road block in his and Carri's relationship. He was hoping he was just worrying too much but he was about to find out.

He ran the bell and waited for a few seconds until the door opened up in front of him. "Hey man. Good to see you." Josh said as he grabbed his wallet off the small table by the door. "Let's head out."

Josh shut the door and followed Rocky to his car, climbing into the passenger's side as Rocky spoke. "So where are we off to?"

Josh shrugged. He hadn't really thought that far. After all he didn't live there anymore. "I don't know, I figured you could pick. We can hang out wherever you and your friends usually do."

"We usually end up going to the Youth Center to spar when we get together." Rocky replied. That wasn't all they did but it usually ended up being their activity of choice.

Josh chuckled. He wasn't much for sparring. A fist fight he could handle. His sister on the other hand had done some sparring when she took karate in New York. "Since I don't spar how about Manny's Arcade?" Josh suggested. They went there all the time when he was a student at Angel Grove High. "Ever been there before?"

"Once." Rocky replied. "Billy and I went there about a year and a half ago." As if Rocky hadn't gotten the point after the battle they had just fought Billy thought he would show him what true video game junkies looked like.

"Let's go then." Josh said giving Rocky a nod. He was curious to see if the place had changed any.

"Ok." Rocky replied as he started the car and backed out of the driveway. He took a deep breath as he headed in the direction of the arcade. Here goes nothing.

* * *

It wasn't long before they arrived at the arcade. Rocky parked the car and he and Josh headed inside. Josh immediately recognized the arcade's owner who was standing behind the counter. "Manny. Long time no see." He said as he wondered up to the counter with Rocky behind him.

"Look what crawled through my door." Manny replied, sticking his hand out to slap Josh's. He knew the younger man and his friends well. They used to be regular patrons of the arcade. He hadn't seen Josh since his family moved to New York. And the rest of his friends had since taken off for college.

"So what have we got?" Josh asked as he gestured around the arcade. The games were always changing. Moneymakers stayed and things that didn't do as well got rotated out every few months.

"We've still got the air hockey table." Manny replied as he gestured toward it. He had a feeling Josh would head that way. It was one of his favorites and he was good at it. "Yesterday we got a few new games in. There's House of the Dead, Street Fighter EX, and a Pachinko Machine I believe."

"No Pachinko Machine!" Rocky exclaimed suddenly as a wave of bad memories washed over him. He was not going to get magically addicted to that thing ever again.

Josh laughed and gave him a look. He really hoped he didn't have to go back home and tell his sister that her boyfriend was off his rocker. "What do you think it's going to attack you or something?"

"No of course not." Rocky said, his words rushed as he realized how much of a fool he must have just sounded like. Just the thought of playing on the machine brought that kind of reaction out of him. It reminded him of how he let everyone who was counting on him down. "It's a long story. Let's just say the Pachinko Machine and I don't exactly get along."

"Whatever." Josh said with a shrug. It was kind of odd but he'd let it slide for the moment. "We'll just go hit up the air hockey tables."

"So you're going to play him in air hockey?" Manny questioned the unfamiliar kid that Josh had brought in with him. "You're a brave man."

"Uh, ok." Rocky said slowly, not quite sure why he was brave.

"So you didn't tell him did you?" Manny said with a laugh as he glanced toward Josh.

"I'm just going to warm up on him, that's all." Josh replied with a grin. By warm up on he meant totally crush and embarrass him in the middle of the arcade but Rocky didn't need to know that.

Manny snorted as he looked at the teen that was at Josh's mercy. "Good luck. You're going to need it."

"What is he talking about?" Rocky whispered once they were out of earshot.

"Oh it's nothing." Josh said with a devilish look on his face. He walked over to the air hockey table and put two quarters in before picking a side. He glanced down briefly before looking over toward Rocky. "You must have the puck."

Rocky stuck his hand down and felt the round piece of plastic sticking out of the other side of the table. "Yep." He replied pulling it up and setting it down, holding one finger to it so the air didn't send it drifting away.

"Let's get this started." Josh said his impatience showing. He hadn't played air hockey in a while and he was looking forward to it. Finally Rocky sent the puck sailing his way and Josh tapped it back. He had made up his mind that he would start easy. He needed to warm up and he didn't want to completely demolish his sister's boyfriend right off the bat. "So you ever play air hockey?"

"Not really." Rocky admitted. He hadn't played in forever. He hadn't been in the arcade in forever. "I'm not much for arcade games. I'm into outdoor sports. Baseball is my game of choice."

"I love baseball." Josh replied. He had already been under the impression that baseball was one of the things they had in common. "She won't admit it, but I taught Carri everything she knows." He was more surprised than anybody when he made a damn good pitcher out of his little sister. Once she got a hold of it she put her head down and worked on it and before they left Angel Grove, she was striking out his friends. Although none of them would admit to it if you were to ask them now.

"Really? You taught her how to pitch?" Rocky questioned. He sounded surprised but he supposed he shouldn't be. Talent like she's got doesn't come out of thin air, someone has to teach you.

"I taught her the mechanics." Josh replied. She had been eager to learn. Mainly because she had wanted to strike him out. "But don't think I'm a pitcher." He added. "I'm a drifter. I play first a lot but I really enjoy the outfield, preferably right."

"Right field is where I play." Rocky replied, glad that they had more in common than he thought. This might not be so bad after all.

"What do you know." Josh replied. Although he was pretty sure his sister had mentioned that to him and that it was stored up in his memory banks somewhere. "Speaking of baseball, how about those Dodgers?"

Rocky let out a groan. The Dodgers weren't one of his favorite subjects at the moment. "They're embarrassing me."

"No kidding." Josh replied with a laugh. "If they don't get their shit together and start beating the Braves, I'm going in hiding until April."

Rocky nodded in agreement. "Look on the bright side. At least we have enough sense to cheer for the Dodgers."

"As opposed to what?" Josh questioned, although he had a good idea where this conversation was going.

Rocky gulped. He thought he heard anger in his voice. He hoped he was wrong. If Josh was an Astros fan as well he's not going to appreciate this. "Um, well, you know, being an Astros fan."

Josh gave him a sly grin. "So you pick on my sister for that too?"

Rocky let out a sigh of relief. "You mean I'm not the only one?" he asked, grateful that Josh seemed to find her obsession with the Astros amusing as well.

"Are you kidding me? We used to get into these long drawn out debates over who was better." Josh replied. It had been going on for years, ever since they were at a Dodgers-Astros game and Carri had declared the Astros to be her favorite team. Josh had always thought it was to piss him off but she stuck by her decision and defended them to the very end. "Of course I won those. You win those too don't you?"

"We've had one long dragged out fight that's seemingly never ending." Rocky replied with a smile. She won't back down and he wasn't about to concede to the Astros.

"My sister will keep pushing until she drives you nuts then she'll push a little bit harder. But you can't give in. Because if you do she'll never let you live it down." Josh gave him some words of advice. His sister had been relentless in their arguments. But He knew her well enough to know how to stand his ground with her.

"Blue is the only color." Rocky replied with a grin as he thought about how it was doubly true in his case.

"That's the truth." Josh replied as he took note of their score still being tied at zero. "My arm's warm now. Hope you weren't planning on winning or anything."

With that Josh went on his usual scoring rampage and within moments he had popped seven scores on the board and the machine shut down. He could hear Manny clapping from the sidelines. "Took you long enough." Manny called out.

Josh walked out so he could see him and he gave him a smug look as he crossed his arms over his chest. "You must bow down before your king."

Manny did a half bow from behind the counter. "All hail the king of air hockey."

When they were finished joking Josh turned his attention back to Rocky. "You want another shot at me?"

"Seriously?" Rocky asked, looking as though Josh had just gone off the deep end. "I think that one beating was enough to last a lifetime. I'll give you my friend's numbers if you want someone else to beat up on."

"I may take you up on that." Josh replied. Anytime he could whip up on new blood it was fun. "Let's hit up the rest of the games."

"Alright." Rocky replied as Josh led him over to take a crack at the new Street Fighter game.

* * *

The remainder of the rangers found themselves heading toward the Youth Center along with Billy after spending an afternoon in the Power Chamber playing cards with Alpha. As they sat at their usual table Ernie approached them.

"Hey guys. What can I get for you today?" Ernie questioned as he looked around the table.

Tommy grinned at the other rangers. "I think you guys should buy me a victory meal."

Carri glared at the red ranger before picking her hand up and pointing her finger at him. "Look here Oliver, I won one too. So unless you're buying for me then forget it."

Tommy laughed at the yellow ranger. She was always ready to tell them what she thought. "Fine forget it." He said with a grin as he turned toward Ernie. "I'll just have a burger and a coke."

As Tommy ordered Carri gave him a nod of approval and he simply grinned and shook her head. She smiled as she turned toward Ernie. "I just want a smoothie. Maybe… oranges and strawberries?"

"I can do that." Ernie replied as he turned toward the rest of the table.

"Smoothies sound good. Can you make me a strawberry banana?" Kat asked. She wasn't too hungry but that sounded fabulous.

Ernie nodded his head as he looked toward Adam. "Same as Tommy." Adam replied simply as Billy chimed in with a "me too".

"Alright I'll be back." Ernie said as he wandered away from the table, leaving the kids alone.

"We should play poker next time." Tommy suggested as he thought about it. "I could win some money."

"We wouldn't be able to play in the Power Chamber." Billy quickly pointed out. "It is unlikely that Zordon would allow us to bet money in his presence."

Adam nodded in agreement. He doubted gambling was something that rangers were supposed to do. "If we were going to play for money," he started although he had no intention of actually doing so, "we would have to go somewhere Zordon couldn't find us."

"Carri's room." Kat supplied as she turned and met her cousin's eyes. Carri couldn't find anything in there, she wasn't sure what effect Zordon's scanners would have.

Kat giggled as Carri grinned. "Yeah that might actually work. I know I can't find anything in there and I doubt Zordon could." Her room had become a disaster. She didn't know how it had gotten like that. Well she did. Between school, ball practice, rangering and hanging out with the others she didn't have any time left in her day. But cleaning her room was on her to do list.

"Is it actually safe in there?" Tommy questioned. The way the girls were acting he would think her room was marked off as a disaster area.

Carri gave him a shrug. "It hasn't been marked a safety hazard yet." She said with a slight smile. "Besides I sleep in there and I'm perfectly fine."

"That all depends on your definition of fine." Tommy said as he laughed and Carri crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at him.

"Even if we went in there," Adam paused and made hand gestures as though he were morphing, "I doubt it would do any good." Adam hadn't actually seen Carri's room but he thought he'd join in. The yellow ranger turned her scowl toward him when he finished speaking.

Before Carri could make a comeback Ernie returned to the table and put food down in front of all the rangers. "Enjoy." Ernie said before heading back to serve a new group of teens that had come in.

The rangers were silent as the boys started eating and the girls started sipping their smoothies. As the previous conversation was forgotten Adam changed the subject. "Have you guys heard about the winter ball?"

"How did you hear about it?" Kat asked, quite surprised. She was on the committee at school that planned those sorts of things and they had kept the details of the ball under wraps. The fact that they were having one wouldn't be revealed for another few weeks as the ball itself would be held the weekend before Christmas break. "We haven't told anyone about it yet."

"I have my connections." Adam replied with a grin. His connection was a girl that he had been friends with in Stone Canyon that was on the planning committee with Kat. She had blurted out about the ball but she didn't seem to think it was that big of a deal.

"By connections he means he slipped into the Power Chamber and spied on you." Carri was quick to point out. That was the only way she could think of to get information from the usually tight lipped committee.

Billy smiled at her. It was a good idea in theory but it would have never been allowed to happen. "I believe we would have noticed if he came in."

"Not if he was invisible." Carri pointed out with a serious look on her face.

The absurdness of the statement made Tommy burst out laughing and his laughter got Carri started as well. "Fine." She said as she finally stopped laughing. "I'll admit it was a bit farfetched."

"How would I make myself invisible anyway?" Adam questioned. He wasn't sure of the need to pursue that line of thought but he couldn't help it.

For a moment Kat thought about the question and was going to suggest that it was a weird ranger power but then she came up with a more creative idea. "The little green men did it."

The table was silent for a second as the five of them glanced around at each other before finally four sets of eyes landed on Kat. The pink ranger was trying not to laugh but when she found all her friends staring at her she couldn't help it. One person laughing was all they needed to set the table off.

Rocky and Josh exchanged a look as they snuck up behind the table. "What's so funny?" he asked, wondering if they were going to let him in on the joke.

Billy smiled at the blue ranger. "If we told you, you'd probably have us all committed."

Rocky chuckled. "That I can believe." He replied. They could all be crazy, in a good sort of way.

Kat looked deep in thought, any traces of her laughing fit gone from her face. Finally she spoke. "On the next episode of X-files…."

That was all it took to get the table going again. When they finally calmed down Adam glanced around at his friends. "Let's just leave it at connections."

"Fine." Carri said as she shrugged her shoulders and gave Adam a look. "But don't think that I still won't be coming up with ideas."

"I know you will." Adam replied. Although it wasn't the most interesting thing to think about ever and he figured she'd forget about it shortly.

Rocky and Josh were both curious as to what the exchange had been about, but once it was obvious that nobody was going to tell them they let it slide. Each of them grabbed a chair and slid up on either side of Carri.

"Look at that." Josh said as he took note of what was on his sister's hat. Before she knew what was happening, he yanked it off her head.

"Hey!" she hollered at her brother, an irritated look crossing her face. "Give that back."

"I've thought about doing that all afternoon." Adam said with a smile. He was a Dodgers fan as well and he didn't have any more love for the Astros than Rocky did. "I figured she'd kill me though. Better you than me."

"I think I'll put this where it belongs." Josh said as he stood and headed for the trashcan.

"I don't think so." Carri said as she jumped up and lunged for her brother. She jumped onto his back and reached up and yanked her hat out of his outstretched hand before falling back to the floor. She dusted the hat off and put it back on her head. "Touch my hat again and I'll kill you." She threatened. Josh wasn't fooled though. He knew that she knew he wouldn't throw it away just like he knew she'd never kill him.

Kat simply shook her head at her cousins. "Josh you're being mean."

"I'm supposed to." Josh said with a smile. "Big brother, little sister remember?" He asked as though it was some sort of unwritten rule that he had to be mean to her.

Carri reclaimed her seat, keeping a close eye on Josh as he sat back down beside her. "You should've saved my hat for me." She said as she turned toward Rocky.

"Why?" her boyfriend questioned, giving her a goofy grin. "I want to burn it."

Carri gave him an evil look. "Touch my hat and I'll kill you applies to you too." She said firmly. Just because he was her boyfriend didn't mean he was getting off easy.

Rocky smiled at her and her facial features softened. She was playing mad but he knew she wouldn't stay mad. "So what did you guys do all afternoon?" he asked.

"We were off playing cards with Al." Adam replied, wondering if his best friend would realize that Al was short for Alpha.

"What did you guys do?" Kat questioned quickly before they could get into a discussion of who Al was or where they were playing cards.

"We went to Manny's Arcade." Josh replied. They had stayed for a while and played games and talked. It had been interesting. He got to catch up on his video games and get a good feel for his little sister's new boyfriend.

"Speaking of the arcade, you guys should play him in air hockey." Rocky spoke as he gestured toward the other males at the table. He wanted them to have the same shot at humiliation that he did. It was only fair.

Carri snickered. She couldn't help but wonder if Rocky had made the mistake of playing her brother in air hockey. She had learned her lesson long ago. But if any of her friends wanted a beating she'd let them take it and warn them against it later.

"Sounds like a challenge. I'm in." Tommy replied. He didn't play much air hockey but he was never one to turn down a challenge.

"I think we played everything but the Pachinko Machine." Josh said as he thought about it. They had done a pretty good tour of the arcade, playing all of his favorites and checking out the games that were new in the three years he was gone.

Billy chuckled. "I wonder why." He said aloud, although he, Tommy and Adam still remembered that monster quite well.

Carri looked at the two boys and rolled her eyes. "What a waste of money."

"And that hat wasn't?" Rocky questioned as he glanced over at his girlfriend. He declined to mention that Josh had done most of the paying. It wasn't as though he didn't try to pay, but Josh seemed to have the money to throw away and Rocky didn't argue. If their parents are as well off as he was under the impression that they were, a few coins in the machines were probably nothing to Josh.

Carri grunted and glanced over the table to find something to throw at him. Before she could come up with anything good, their communicators went off. "What's going on?" Josh asked as the rangers stood.

"Nothing. We've got to meet someone from school to grab something for a project real quick. We'll be back." Carri replied. She hoped her brother bought it. He usually knew when something was up with her.

"Ok." Josh said slowly, watching as they all took off. Something was odd about the way their pagers went off and they all left but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

He tried not to dwell on it as he waited for them to return. The minutes slowly ticked off and he couldn't help but wonder what exactly they were talking to their school friends about. And couldn't they talk out here? It wasn't like they were going to say anything in front of Josh that would surprise him.

After a while he was contemplating chasing after them, but before he could get back up they returned. "Took you long enough." He said, shooting his sister a look.

Carri shrugged as she sat. "I told you we had to meet some people. And we started talking and one minute turned into ten." The reality was they had spent the last ten minutes kicking the crap out of Cogs on the beach but she certainly couldn't tell her brother that.

"Whatever." Josh replied as the rest of the group sat back down. His sister could talk a lot if she wanted. He hoped she wasn't into anything bad. He didn't think so, but he was still kind of suspicious. He supposed he'd have to keep a close eye on her just in case.

"So what's everyone doing tomorrow?" Kat asked, hoping that she could change the subject and get her cousin to forget about what just happened.

Adam grinned at her. "Ask me tomorrow morning." He would probably end up coming right back to the Youth Center.

"I'm with Adam. I haven't planned ahead." Tommy replied with a smile. Like Adam, he figured he would be at the Youth Center again tomorrow. After all they didn't have many hang out spots. Sometimes they ended up on the beach and they had spent quite a few afternoons in the park, but mostly it was the Youth Center.

Rocky wasn't paying much attention to the conversation at the table. Instead he was looking at his girlfriend, who was sitting with one hand firmly planted on her hat. "I promise I won't touch your hat if you take a walk with me." He wanted to talk to her in private and as they really weren't doing anything interesting there he didn't see why they needed to stay.

Carri gave him a questioning look as he stood and extended his hand out to her. She slowly put her hand in his and let him pull her up. "Fine but if you touch my hat"

"I know I know. You'll kill me." Rocky cut her off as he grinned at her.

She gave him a smile back as she turned toward the rest of the table. "We'll see you guys later."

They watched as Carri and Rocky walked out hand in hand. Josh turned back toward the rest of his sister's friends and grinned. "It's a whole lot quieter with her gone."

Kat simply shook her head. There was nothing she could say to keep her cousin from picking on his sister. Instead she asked the table a question. "Who's coming to tonight's recital?"

"When and where is it?" Billy questioned, wondering why this was the first time that Kat had mentioned a recital.

"Seven o'clock in the high school auditorium." Kat replied. She was lucky that she was in so many different groups at the school. That was probably the only reason she had been allowed to use the auditorium.

"I'll be there." Adam replied giving her a smile. This was the first recital Kat was putting on since she started her dance classes. "I'd like to see how you've shaped up those kids."

"Are you dancing?" Tommy questioned. He knew she spent most of her time working on the kid's pieces but she was a good dancer, he had a feeling she'd be inclined to jump in.

"I'm dancing in two pieces." She replied. She was debating about whether or not to dance at all, but two of the pieces looked better with her in it, and her presence tended to keep the younger ones in check.

"Unless I find myself needed I'll attend." Billy replied. He couldn't imagine what Zordon would need him to do that wouldn't allow him to go, but if the situation presented itself the rangers came first.

"I think it will be cute." Tommy replied. He had never been to a dance recital but it might be fun to watch. "I'll be there."

As the table went silent Kat turned toward her cousin. "Josh?"

"Me?" He asked grinning at her. "I've got a date with the second game of the playoffs."

Kat playfully rolled her eyes at her cousin. She was a little upset that he would choose baseball over her dance recital but she would get over it. "At least five of my friends will be there."

"Rocky and Carri are going?" Adam asked, wondering why they hadn't mentioned it to him before. Rocky usually told him about everything.

"Yes." Kat said with a grin. "They just don't know it yet." She doubted Carri would miss the recital and neither would Rocky, assuming he wasn't already working or helping his mother out.

"Thank you." Kat said as she thought for a moment. She drifted back toward the question she had asked everyone earlier, what they were doing tomorrow. She had posed that question because she thought it would be fun to hang out as a group somewhere other than the Youth Center. "We should get together tomorrow. Do something other than the usual."

"That would be good." Tommy said as he thought about it. A change of pace would be fun. "What do you guys want to do?"

"How about a movie?" Adam suggested. It had been a while since the entire group had gathered for a movie. "Then maybe we can go out to dinner or go play basketball or something."

"I like that idea." Billy said with a smile. It would be good to spend another afternoon out of the Power Chamber and with his friends. Not that he didn't enjoy his work but sometimes he simply needed to get out.

"Then it's settled. We'll meet at the movies at three and take it from there." Kat said with a smile. She was excited, it was always fun to go do stuff. "I'll talk to Rocky and Carri and make sure they can go as well."

"She's in as long as there is no sale at the mall that catches her eye." Josh said, rolling his eyes and giving Kat a smile. His sister never could walk away from a good sale.

Kat looked at Josh oddly, suddenly remembering they had company. She felt somewhat embarrassed as she had left him out. "You can come too Josh."

"Nah. I'm not going ruin your fun." Josh paused as he let out a small chuckle. "As much fun as it would be to bust on my sister some I'd hate to ruin the day for the rest of you."

"Well if you change your mind feel free to join us." Kat offered. She didn't think he would and as much as she loved her cousin she was kind of glad he wasn't going. They were making a ranger outing off it and he ran the risk of being left out.

Adam glanced back at the mats as the kids started to exit. He glanced over at Tommy and smiled. "You want to spar?"

"Sure." Tommy replied. He never turned down the offer to practice. "You in?" he asked Billy.

"I have some work to attend to." Billy replied. He'd love to spar but he had things to get done. Plus Rocky wasn't there and it was much easier working it with four of them than with three.

"Alright. Maybe next time." Tommy gave Billy a smile and the former blue ranger nodded. "Let's get changed." He spoke in Adam's direction. With that the two boys jumped up and headed for the locker rooms.

"I suppose I shall be leaving as well." Billy replied, standing up. He said goodbye to Kat and Josh and started to head for their usual teleportation spot before suddenly changing directions and heading for the front door. He had remembered Josh and knew he had to try and give the illusion that he was travelling normally.

Kat smiled at Billy's odd motions. She figured he had forgotten Josh was watching him. It would have been hard to explain how he vanished from inside the Youth Center. As the door closed behind Billy, Josh turned his attention back toward her. "Shall we go?"

"We shall." Kat said with a smile as she stood. As much as she would love to stay and watch Tommy, she had some work of her own to do for the recital plus she wanted to spend time with her cousin. She waited for Josh to stand before the duo made their way out of the Youth Center and headed home.

* * *

Rocky and Carri's walk led them to the beach. As their feet touched the sand they both stopped and took their shoes off, then Rocky put his arm around Carri and led her to the shoreline where they continued walking.

Carri leaned into him before looking up and giving him a grin. She had wanted to ask this question for a while but he had managed to talk about everything else under the sun, not giving her a chance to speak. Now that they were silent it was her turn to start a conversation. "So how did it go with Josh today?"

"It went," Rocky paused, not quite sure what his answer to that question should be, "well. I mean I think we got along ok. But you would have to ask him to be certain."

"If he didn't like you he wouldn't have let you leave there with me." Carri pointed out. They had many arguments in private over whether or not Carri was going to go out with David. However their mother was on her side and for reasons she can't quite figure out she ignored her brother's warnings and continued to go out with him. Josh could act as her only guardian here. If he didn't like Rocky he would have made it known.

Rocky gave her a shrug. He wasn't as convinced as she was. "So we didn't kill each other. That's always a good sign."

"Right." Carri said with a grin, although she never in a million years would think that the two of them would come to blows. "So what did you guys talk about?"

"The Dodgers, the arcade games and a little bit about you." Rocky said. When they weren't discussing their team or the game they were playing, Josh would make the occasional comment about his sister that Rocky usually had a story of his own to back Josh's statement up with.

Carri ignored the part on them talking about her. She was curious but not enough to ask what they had said. Besides Josh would never spill anything about her that she didn't already talk about. What she wanted to know was the question that had been dancing around since before they left the Youth Center. "You didn't play him in air hockey did you?"

"Yeah." He replied giving her a look. She giggled at the defeated tone in his voice and he made a face. "What, you're not surprised that he creamed me?"

"When we were younger he kicked the crap out of me without blinking an eye. I used to think I could improve and beat him but then he kept getting better and, well, there comes a point where you just have to cut your losses and move on." By cut her losses Carri meant she quit playing against her brother all together. He wouldn't let her win and she couldn't match his skill no matter how hard she tried. It didn't take long for her to decide it was time to shift her focus elsewhere.

"Why didn't you tell me he was some sort of air hockey champion?" Rocky questioned. If he had known he would have never let Josh embarrass him like that in the arcade.

Carri snorted. "Please the only reason you would need to know was if you did something stupid and asked him what he wanted to do." She said, smiling and pulling away from him. She turned around and started walking backwards, giving him the same devilish look he had seen from Josh earlier. "And you obviously did something stupid."

Rocky leaped toward her and she turned and started to sprint down the shoreline. Eventually she slowed so he could catch up. She was expecting him to give her a hard time, but what she wasn't expecting was for him to tackle her. Both of them fell onto the damp sand seconds before a wave came crashing down over them. Soaked to the bone they both started laughing, allowing another wave to hit them before Rocky pulled Carri up and they headed home.

* * *

The rangers had found themselves sitting in the high school auditorium for the last hour and half. They had all been enjoying the performance that was put on by Kat and her dancers. After a beautifully choreographed piece, the curtain dropped and all of the lights came back on. Seconds later all of the dancers appeared in front of the curtain and took a bow.

The audience stood and cheered, with the group of rangers being some of the loudest audience members. Tommy let out a whistle as he and all the others screamed words of praise toward the stage. As the auditorium quieted down the dancers took off. Tommy looked toward the other rangers. "Shall we go see Kat?"

"We shall." Carri replied, grinning at Tommy as she led the march out of the aisle. Carri navigated the team around the parents who were all gushing over their children and offering them flowers and other sort of congratulatory gifts. Finally they got through the sea of parents and found Kat.

As they got up to Kat, Carri reached into her pocket and pulled out a twenty dollar bill, immediately handing it to her cousin. Kat took it from her and looked at her curiously. "What's this for?"

"You didn't tell us to bring flowers so you can just by them yourself." Carri replied. Truthfully she had been to these for Kat when she was younger and she knew flowers were the norm, but she didn't think about it until she saw the other dancers getting flowers.

"I think I'll survive without flowers." Kat replied, handing Carri the twenty back. Them bringing flowers would have been a nice surprise but she wouldn't concern herself with it.

Carri shrugged as she took the money. "Fine. Your flowers just became my shirt."

"We did come with words of praise." Billy said with a smile as he moved away from the flowers discussion. "You did an amazing job Kat. The dancers looked great."

"Thank you." Kat said, feeling a blush creep up into her cheeks. This was the first time any of her new friends had seen her do a dance recital. She was really excited that they had thought so highly of it.

"Even the younger ones looked professional and that's hard to do." Rocky chimed in. He knew from experience that getting the younger kids to perform precisely all the time was nearly impossible.

"The younger ones were the most fun to work with." Kat replied with a smile. Although she knew what Rocky was talking about, she hadn't been sure what she would get from them until they started dancing. "I'm going to continue working with this same group. Plus in January I will be taking over another class. Maybe some more if I can."

"That's going to be a lot of work." Adam commented. He tried to volunteer a lot with soccer and karate and other activities but it was hard to find time between school, the activities he participated in and the rangers.

"I know." Kat replied with a smile. She was definitely taking over another class but that may be it for her. She was on so many committees at school and she was already busy most of the time and she simply may run out of time to do anymore. "I want to do it though and I love the kids."

"You're good at it." Tommy said as a group of students who were ready to depart pushed into their circle to get hugs from Kat. As they left Tommy gave her a smile. "And the kids love you too."

The group got silent for a minute as they watched the dancers walk around. Finally Carri spoke. "I think I'm going to go check on my brother. You coming?"

"No I have to finish up here. I'll see you later tonight." Kat replied. Carri gave her a nod and gave her boyfriend a kiss on the cheek, saying goodbye to everyone as she pulled her keys out of her pocket and headed for the exit.

"I think I'm heading out with her." Rocky said. He wanted a few quick moments with his girlfriend before she headed home. He said goodbye as well then jogged after her.

"Since Carri just took off, do you need a ride?" Tommy questioned. He wanted to make sure she had a way home since the girl she lived with just left her here.

"No. I have my car here. But thank you." Kat said, smiling at Tommy. She almost wished she was stranded. Even though he was just offering as a friend, she would have loved to been able to take a ride with him.

"Alright. I'll see you later." Tommy said, giving her a wave as he left. A few seconds later Billy and Adam said their goodbyes as well, leaving Kat to finish up so she could get home.

* * *

The next morning Josh found himself sitting impatiently on the couch. It was eleven o'clock and his sister had yet to emerge from her bedroom. He wasn't surprised; it wasn't like she didn't sleep in during the almost eighteen years they lived together. But he had wanted to talk to her and he didn't want to wait any longer. If Carri didn't hurry up he was going to go start banging on her door.

Finally he heard the door creep open and saw his sister bouncing down the stairs. "Good morning." She said as she headed into the kitchen for a glass of juice.

"Barely." Josh called after her, digging on her waking up as late as she stepped into the kitchen and went hunting for a glass.

Carri rolled her eyes and glanced over at Kat who was sitting at the kitchen table reading the paper. Kat smiled at her just as Josh entered the kitchen. "Don't get too comfortable. I'm taking you to the park so we can chat."

"I don't have time to chat." Carri replied as she made a face. She didn't really want a lecture on her boyfriend, not now anyway.

"You don't have to be anywhere until three." Kat pointed out. Carri had been quick to say that she had no plans for the day and would be happy to meet at a movie at three.

"Fine." Carri said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Let's go." She walked swiftly past Josh and out the front door, her brother hustling to keep up with her.

It was silent during the short walk to the park, but once they got there Carri spoke up. "So I suppose this is about yesterday."

"You would suppose right." Josh said. Carri wasn't stupid; he knew she knew he wanted to talk about Rocky. He also knew she wanted to avoid talking to him because she wanted to avoid getting an earful, but this time she might not mind what he had to say.

"Just give it to me straight." Carri said with a sigh. Not like he had ever sugarcoated his opinion on any one of her boyfriends.

Josh grinned at his sister. Like he'd have it any other way. "Rocky seems like a nice guy. And unlike David and some of the others I don't mind if you date him. In fact, I say go for it."

Carri made a noise as she overdramatically rolled her eyes. "Well now that I have the almighty Josh's permission I will continue to date Rocky." She said before she grinned at him. "Not that your permission ever matters."

"Yeah but usually I end up saying I told you so. Like with David." Josh was quick to remind her. Now was not the time to get into details, but he doubted that she had forgotten all his warnings about David.

"Don't go there." Carri warned. If he was going to play the; I told you so game she would probably go off on him.

"I think you did well this time." Josh went back to the discussion on Rocky. He was going to stay far away from David. He didn't think she liked him that much when they were dating and she despised him now. Talking about him was asking for an argument, especially when he started that conversation with I told you so.

"When do I get to judge your new girlfriend?" Carri questioned as she raised an eyebrow toward her brother. He wasn't the only one who formed opinions.

"How about never." Josh replied as he grinned at her.

Carri looked upset. "And what exactly is the difference between you judging my boyfriend and me judging your girlfriend?"

"Because I don't need you to protect me from a girl but if you're in a bad relationship with a guy you would need me to stand in for you." Josh replied. He was her big brother; he was supposed to protect her.

"Please." Carri said rolling her eyes once more. "I can protect myself thank you very much." She wasn't sure if she'd actually win a fist fight with a guy but she didn't want her brother thinking she was weak either. As if Mondo was reading her thoughts, a group of Cogs appeared in front of them.

"Great." Carri grumbled. This wasn't the way she wanted to prove that she could protect herself. "Get out of here!" she yelled toward Josh.

"And leave you to fight these things?" Josh questioned as though his sister was crazy. She may have taken some karate classes and she may know how to protect herself, but there was no chance in hell he was leaving her there to fight these aliens in what was most likely a monster attack. "Absolutely not." He said, suddenly wishing he had asked his sister exactly what to do during attacks. But she was standing to fight; perhaps that was the norm for the citizens of Angel Grove.

"Josh, you." Carri stopped short as she let out a grunt before running to meet the Cogs head on. He was as stubborn as she was; there was no way he'd listen to her. She just had to hope the others would get there quickly.

She jumped into the fight with Josh hot on her heels. She was trying to juggle between fighting herself and watching her brother fight. He was decent, he knew how to throw a good punch, but he had never been properly trained and he certainly knew nothing about the Cogs. For a second she wondered if they should have just ran. But the Cogs would have most certainly chased them and it was easiest to stay and fight.

It was ok for now, at least it seemed that way. Josh was doing fine enough and she had nothing to complain about considering she wasn't morphed. She was starting to wonder where the others were but before she could keep that thought going her brother called out to her. "These guys are tough! Are you ok?"

Carri ducked the advances of an oncoming Cog and kicked it in the back, knocking it into one of its friends. "Just peachy!" she yelled back, maneuvering around another Cog only to find herself smacking into something else.

She looked up to see a monster they had recently defeated. "I'm back." Leaky Faucet announced triumphantly.

"Seriously?" Carri questioned as she jumped back and into fighting stance. "One beating wasn't enough?"

"I'm here to destroy you and all your friends." Leaky Faucet said, ignoring the fact that Carri pointed out that he had lost to them already. This time would be different.

Josh couldn't completely tell what was going on, but he could see that metallic monster trying to attack his sister. "Leave her alone!" He threatened as he started to run over there. "Come fight me!" But before he could get close to his sister a group of the grey things they had been fighting descended on him.

"Josh!" Carri yelled, sprinting toward him as the Cogs started to drag him away. Before she could get close Leaky Faucet hit her from behind and she fell to the ground. By the time she stood, Josh was gone. "You'll pay for that." She threatened. Nobody messed with her family. "It's morphin time!"

"Zeo ranger two, yellow!" she called out. Within seconds she was transformed into her ranger form and was staring down Leaky Faucet. "I'm taking you out again."

Leaky Faucet laughed. "You think one lone ranger is going to stop me?"

"No but five will." Tommy said as he and the rest of the team teleported in around her.

"Five, one, what's the difference?" Leaky Faucet asked, although he was well aware of what five rangers could do together.

"The difference is five of us will crush the one of you." Rocky said as he took a step forward to stand next to his girlfriend. If he was reading her body language right, she was just about to jump Leaky Faucet on her own.

Leaky Faucet didn't want to waste time engaging the rangers in battle. He had better things to do for now. Besides they had already captured the yellow ranger's brother. That was a good start to his return. "Maybe some other time. Right now I have some damage to cause." And with that he was gone.

"What happened?" Adam asked, turning toward Carri. Alpha hadn't filled him in. All he knew was that Carri required their immediate assistance.

"Mondo sent his lackeys down here and then Leaky Faucet showed up." Carri stopped short and made an aggravated noise as she gestured to the spot where Leaky Faucet once stood.

"Where's Josh?" Kat asked. As far as she knew the two siblings had come to the park together and now one of them was nowhere to be found.

She shook her head. "The Cogs got him. I have no idea where they took him." She replied as she balled her gloved hand into a fist. "We've got to find him."

"Let's get back to the Power Chamber, see if Zordon knows anything." Tommy spoke quickly. He knew Carri was angry. He would be too if he was in her position. They would do everything in their power to rescue Carri's brother. The yellow ranger looked over at him and nodded, then the team teleported out.

* * *

"I was able to track your brother." Billy spoke as soon as the others arrived before him. He had seen him get taken away and he made finding him his top priority.

"You did?" Carri said, her excitement showing through. "Do you know where he is?"

"It appears as though he is being held in some sort of hollowed out rock, protected by a force field that surrounds a two mile radius from his location." Billy explained. He had seen them put him in there but once the force field went up his sensors became useless.

"Can we rescue him?" Rocky asked. That would be a weight off of their shoulders. Then they could turn their focus toward getting rid of leaky faucet. Again.

"I believe that won't be too difficult." Billy said. He was somewhat surprised of the ease of the rescue. He couldn't help but wonder what awaited the rescuer once they arrived. "One of you should be able to ride your Zeo Jet Cycle in, right up to the mouth of the underground cave where Josh is being held. Then, using this," Billy held up one of his newest inventions, "it should be simple enough to get down, get Josh, and get clear of the force field so that you can teleport him to safety. The only uncertainty is how much of Mondo's forces await you."

Kat gestured to the device in Billy's hands. "What's that?"

"It's a rope with a hook on the end." Billy said as he held it out for her to examine. "You hook it to the opening and jump down, pressing a button to allow the rope to extend. Press this second button when you're ready and it will pull you back up."

"Sounds good." Carri said giving Billy a nod of approval. "When do I leave?" There was no way that she wasn't going to go and rescue her brother. She felt as though it was her fault he was captured to begin with.

"You're not going, I am." Tommy said firmly. It was too risky to send Carri. Their helmets did distort their voices but Josh knew his sister well and there was a chance he'd recognize her.

"He's my brother and I let him down." Carri said as she put her hands on her hips and looked at their leader. "I couldn't keep the Cogs from taking him in the first place. I need to fix this."

"You did not let him down." Zordon spoke. He chose his rangers because they always wanted to stand up and fight the good fight and because they cared about others. But he hated to see them so hard on themselves. "You did all that you could to prevent this from happening. Your brother's disappearance is King Mondo's fault, not your own."

Before Carri could reply the Power Chamber's alarms went off. The rangers turned their focus toward the source of the noise to find Leaky Faucet apparently trying to get into Angel Grove's water supply. Tommy turned toward Carri before she could speak. "You go help them with Leaky Faucet. I'll go save your brother."

Carri nodded her head yes and fell in line with the rest of the team. She still wanted to go save her brother but now wasn't the time to argue. "It's back to action!" Rocky yelled as the morphed ranger team took off.

Tommy walked up to Billy as they left and took his device from him. "Good luck." Alpha said to the red ranger. Tommy gave Alpha a nod before quickly teleporting out as well.

* * *

A few minutes later Tommy found himself arriving at the bottom of the underground cave that Josh had been taken to. It wasn't long before he was surrounded by Cogs. He shifted into fighting stance and looked at them. "You guys want to give up yet?"

The Cogs rushed toward him and Tommy hit the first one square in the chest. "I'll take that as a no."

The Cogs were no more difficult than usual and Tommy found himself easily defeating the small group that he had been presented with. After a few moments the remaining Cogs decided it was best to slip out while they still could.

"I gave them a chance to give up." Tommy said to no one in particular.

"The red ranger?" Josh questioned in disbelief. He had seen him arrive, seen him fight those grey things that had dragged him down here. But he still couldn't believe that the red power ranger was there to rescue him.

"Are you alright?" Tommy asked as he walked over to Josh and unbound his hands. Josh gave him a nod and Tommy led him toward the rope. "Come on; let's get you out of here."

They approached Billy's device and Tommy grabbed the end piece while gesturing for Josh to grab part of the rope. "Hang on." Tommy said, hitting the button to propel them upwards. When the device stopped Tommy and Josh pulled themselves over the edge and back onto the surface.

Wasting no time, Tommy jumped back on his cycle and motioned for Josh to join him. Once Josh was secure Tommy took off. As they started to pull away, a group of Quadra Fighters appeared and started firing at them.

"This can't be good!" Josh pointed out, yelling to make him-self heard over the noise.

"We just have to hold on long enough for me to get us out of here." Tommy replied quickly. He didn't have time to worry about talking to Josh, but he didn't want him panicking on the back of his cycle while he tried to get them out of there. It was hard enough dodging and weaving through the blasts as it was. Finally he made it clear of the force field and teleported them both to safety.

* * *

As Tommy was working on his rescue, the other rangers were working on Leaky Faucet, who had jumped into the pipes at Angel Grove's water treatment facility. They scrambled to get to the valves and try to cut him off and force him out, much like they had done before. Before they got a chance to they found themselves surrounded by Cogs.

Rocky was the first to turn toward them. "We've got to take them out fast guys." He pointed out the obvious. The longer Leaky Faucet stayed in the pipes the worse the damage was going to be. But there was no way they'd get to him with the Cogs looming.

The rangers attacked swiftly, working hard to destroy the Cog army. It wasn't long before they cast the last one aside and could return their focus to the problem at hand. Rocky gestured for them to all get into their places. The team stood by, completely silent so they could hear Leaky Faucet coming.

Carri was the first to find him as he headed her way, singing something about contaminating the water. "Not on my watch." She said as she slammed the valve shut.

"There are other places to go." Leaky Faucet said as he turned himself around and went back to work.

Carri heard him heading toward Adam and she pointed toward the green ranger. Adam caught him as he approached and shut him off. "Better find a new direction." Adam said as he heard Leaky Faucet stop short.

Adam continued to listen for him and noticed he was going toward Kat. He motioned toward her to be ready. A few seconds later he arrived, and Kat cut him off to keep him from going her way. She could hear Leaky Faucet groan as he switched directions yet again. This time they were pushing him where they wanted him to go, straight toward Rocky. Kat gave Rocky a nod and the blue ranger got ready.

He was standing at the end of a pipe, and as Leaky Faucet got on top of his valve he opened it. Before he could figure out what was going on, Leaky Faucet shot from the pipes and found himself surrounded by rangers.

"How did this happen?" Leaky Faucet questioned as he stood and stared at the rangers.

"Your days of swimming in the pipes are over." Rocky assured him as the rangers prepared to finish him off.

"We can't let this happen!" Klank exclaimed from his spot on the sidelines. Mondo thought this was a foolproof plan. He couldn't have his King disappointed once more. He quickly threw Orbus around and toward Leaky Faucet.

"Up you go." Orbus spoke in a cheerful tone as he made Leaky Faucet grow.

"Let's see you stop me now." Leaky Faucet said as he towered above the rangers.

"Not a problem." Rocky replied as he shifted positions. "We need Zeo Zord power now!" With that their zords came barreling toward them and they jumped in prepared for a fight.

* * *

Tommy teleported himself and Josh to a remote area of the desert, one that was far away from the Quadra Fighters. As they arrived Tommy put the kickstand down for the cycle and he and Josh jumped off the bike.

"I'll have you teleported home now." Tommy said. Josh was safe and he had to get back to the others.

"What about my sister? Is she there?" Josh questioned. The entire time the Cogs had him all he could think about was Carri. They dragged him off and God only knows what they were doing to her. He hoped they rescued his sister first.

Tommy frowned, unsure of how to answer this question. "No, but"

"The monster got her didn't he?" Josh quickly interrupted him. "Damn it I don't know how this happened. I should have protected her. I let her down."

"She's fine." Tommy spoke in what he hoped was a reassuring tone.

"Then take me to her." Josh demanded. If she really was fine then he could see his sister.

Tommy sighed. This was going nowhere fast. "I can't." He spoke quickly, his mind racing to think of a good reason why.

Before Tommy could continue Josh got up in his face. "You have to!" he yelled. Just because he wasn't a ranger didn't mean he could get tossed aside like this. He was going to get a straight answer about Carri. "She was my responsibility and I know she's in trouble. Now my little sister is out there with God knows what"

"She's in the hands of the power rangers." Tommy interrupted, hoping that was a good enough explanation. Josh crossed his arms and Tommy couldn't help but smile at how much this conversation reminded him of the one with Carri in the Power Chamber. But Carri had backed down and now it was time to get Josh to back down as well. "She'll be fine but if I take you to her now you'll get yourself killed." He said as Josh stared at him. "Trust me."

Josh nodded his head as he finally stepped back. There wasn't anything he could do but trust the power rangers. He watched as the red ranger stepped aside and was apparently talking to somebody. A few seconds later he got that tingly feeling again and he was gone.

* * *

Tommy made it just in time to see skyscraper sized Leaky Faucet fall, hopefully for the last time. "Good job guys." He congratulated as the team jumped from their zords.

"Thanks." Rocky replied. Although it was always nicer to have five rangers, he liked the opportunity to prove that he had deserved to be a red.

"And Josh?" Carri questioned, her thoughts immediately racing to her brother. If Tommy was here that had to be good news.

"He's at home." Tommy replied. He could see the tension drain from her stance as he spoke. "And he's worried to death about his little sister. You should get home."

"Thanks." Carri replied as she got ready to teleport. She owed Tommy one for rescuing her brother.

"Wait." Rocky said, stopping her short. She couldn't simply teleport home with Josh waiting for her. How was she going to explain what happened? "You power down, I'll teleport you home. It will look like a ranger rescue."

"You're always thinking. I like that." Carri said with a smile as she powered down. She turned toward the others and gave them a wave. "See you guys at the movie." She said before Rocky teleported them off.

Tommy looked over the rest of the rangers. The job was done and it was time to call it a day. "I think that's our cue to get out of here."

Adam nodded in agreement. "See you later." He said as he teleported out first, followed by Kat. Tommy took one last look around the battlefield before teleporting off as well.

* * *

Josh found himself pacing around the living room. He couldn't help it, he was worried. He had been pacing ever since he got back and he would continue to pace until Carri came home. Suddenly two streaks of light flashed before him revealing his sister with the blue ranger.

"Carri!" Josh exclaimed, rushing to give his sister a hug. "Thank God you're ok."

"The power rangers saved me." Carri said as she returned her brother's hug. Although it was more like she helped them kick ass and take names but that was not a story for now. She and Josh separated and she turned toward Rocky. "Thank you blue ranger."

"Anytime." Rocky replied as he teleported himself away.

"What happened?" Josh asked. He was ready for the play by play. Although he supposed it didn't matter, they were both safe. But he was still curious.

"Not much." Carri said with a shrug. She didn't know what kind of lie to come up with in this situation. "The monster and I yelled at each other, he started to attack and that's when the power rangers showed up." That was sort of the truth.

Before Josh could say anything the backdoor opened and Kat walked in. "Where have you been?" Josh asked her as she entered the living room. He had wanted to talk to her the moment he got back to the house but couldn't find her anywhere.

"Me?" Kat replied, surprised that he had taken note of her absence. "Running errands for mum and dad." She quickly made an excuse.

"You'll never guess the afternoon we had." Josh said as he gestured between himself and Carri.

"What did Carri do this time?" Kat asked knowing full well what they had gone through that afternoon. Carri simply turned and stuck her tongue out.

"Nothing yet." Josh teased his sister before launching into an explanation. "We were surrounded by monsters. Some of them dragged me away and attacked Carri. The rangers saved us. I met the red and blue rangers."

"I met the yellow, pink, red, blue and green rangers." Carri couldn't help herself. Josh was bragging about meeting rangers. She wanted to point out that he wasn't the only one who had seen the rangers that day.

"Really?" Kat questioned as though it were the most interesting thing she'd heard all day. "Which one did you like the best."

"The yellow one. Yellow ranger kicked ass." Carri spoke quickly. Kat rolled her eyes at her while Josh wasn't looking. Carri shrugged and smiled.

"The red ranger saved my life so I'd have to say him." Josh replied. He had thought his sister would have said blue seeing as how that was the ranger that brought her home. But who knew what happened while they were separated.

Kat smiled and nodded. She couldn't help but think about how the red ranger was her favorite ranger too. Not that she was going to admit to that. "I've heard good things about the pink ranger." Kat spoke. If her cousin was going to brag on herself, so would she.

Carri rolled her eyes. "Pink is such a drab color." She teased.

"You just like yellow because it's close to the Astros colors." Josh quickly pointed out. Carri didn't have a favorite color but she usually went for stuff that reminded her of her favorite team.

Carri grinned at her brother. She had never thought of that before but he was right. Before she could comment Kat looked over at the clock. "If we're going to run by the store and meet the others on time we need to get out of here." She said to Carri. They hadn't really talked about shopping but if they stayed here Josh was going to dwell on the rangers' thing. She was trying to give him a chance to recuperate and move on.

"Store?" Carri questioned perking up. She didn't remember there being any shopping involved but she was always game. "Let's get out of here."

"See you later." Josh said to the girls. They said their goodbyes and he watched them leave before settling down on the couch.

* * *

Hours later the rangers were standing on the basketball courts. "Over here!" Carri yelled, waving her hands wildly. Rocky tossed her the ball and she turned to head toward the basket but was immediately greeted by Kat. She swiveled back around to find Tommy waiting for her. "A little help here!"

Rocky got close and clapped his hands. A few seconds later the ball shot out of Carri's hands and toward him. He caught it and passed it to a wide open Billy, who took the shot. The rangers turned just in time to see the ball go into the basket.

"I believe that would be the winning point." Billy said with a grin.

"Alright Billy!" Rocky exclaimed as he and Carri ran over to exchange high fives.

"Nice shot." Adam called out. Billy was technically the other team, but even though they fought hard and trash talked a lot they were still good sports and best friends. When a play was good it was good, no matter who was behind it.

"Hey!" Tommy exclaimed as he walked over and lightly hit Adam on the shoulder. "You can't congratulate the enemy." He joked.

Tommy laughed and Kat smiled and shook her head. "It was a good game." Kat said.

"It was a good way to finish off the afternoon." Billy agreed. He hadn't had that much fun in a long time. He was glad they went out.

"Are we done for the day?" Tommy questioned. He had promised his parents he would be home later.

"I think so." Carri replied as she stretched her arms over her head. She was ready to go home and relax for a while.

"It's time to go home." Kat agreed. She wanted to check on Josh, see if he was still dwelling on the rangers' thing.

Billy separated from the others so he could teleport away and the rest of the group started to walk off. Rocky stepped up behind Carri as they were walking and grabbed her arms. "Let's head down to the beach for a while."

Carri turned around and grinned wickedly at him. "Sounds good." She said as she turned back toward the others. "I'll be home later." She called out toward her cousin as she let Rocky led her off in the opposite direction.

"Should we follow them?" Adam asked, eyebrow raised as they watched them leave.

"It would probably make Rocky mad." Tommy pointed out. He knew Adam was just kidding. There was no need to follow the two of them when they were going off by themselves.

"That would be the fun part." Adam said with a laugh. He was just picking on his best friend. He'd never in a million years follow him when he left with his girlfriend.

Kat looked at the two remaining male rangers. "How rude could you get?"

Adam smiled at her. "You don't think we'd actually follow them do you."

Kat sighed and shook her head. "With the two of you I never know."

"First off it was Adam's idea. And second, you know us better than that." Tommy said with a laugh. At least she knew them well enough to know that they wouldn't go chasing after Rocky and Carri.

"Unfortunately I do." Kat joked with them. Tommy was right; she never once thought they were serious. But seeing as how they were going to joke, she thought she would joke back.

Adam and Tommy laughed as they approached their cars. The rangers said their goodbyes before they all crawled into their cars and headed home.

* * *

Sometime after sunset, Carri and Rocky returned to Carri's house to find Josh and Kat sitting on the couch with Josh's packed bags beside him. "Going somewhere?" she asked as she looked at her brother curiously.

"I've had enough adventure today to last me a lifetime." Josh said with a smile. Truthfully he had accomplished what he set out to do. He had seen his sister, he had met her friends and her boyfriend, and now he felt as though it was time to move on. His sister had her own friends to hang out with, and although they were nice enough he'd rather spend his time with his friends. "I'm going to go visit Brad and Rush for a few days, see what's going on with them, and meet the girls they hang out with, that sort of thing."

Carri nodded. Brad and Rush had been his best friend's when he lived in Angel Grove. It would be good for them to hang out, although she hated to see him go. "Isn't your girlfriend going to be jealous?" she teased.

"What she won't know won't hurt her." Josh said jokingly. Although it was partially the truth, he wasn't serious with the girl he was with now and if he met someone through Brad or Rush it might be fun.

"Too bad you're leaving." Rocky said. Josh still made him nervous but Carri said that Josh approved. Josh was Carri's brother and he wouldn't mind getting to know him more. "We could hang out some, catch some games."

Josh couldn't help but snort. "Games?" he questioned shaking his head. "The way we're playing we'll be lucky if there's one more left."

"True." Rocky replied. The Dodgers so far had made a pitiful showing in the playoffs. "There's always next year."

Josh nodded his head in agreement. "We'll talk next summer."

"Yeah maybe you can fly back then." Carri chimed in, giving her brother an evil grin. "The two of you can come with me to watch the Dodgers get their asses handled to them by the 'Stros."

Josh pointed a finger at Carri. "Somebody needs to set you straight." He said in a warning tone. She simply smiled at him. "I'm not convinced you're a lost cause yet. Maybe Rocky can fix you."

"Dude it's been ten years. Get over it." Carri replied as she crossed her arms over her chest. "If you'd just convert we wouldn't be having this conversation." She gave him a look. This was about to turn into one of their famous baseball arguments and she was ready for him.

"Dear sister" Josh said the words in a way that they were dramatically drawn out but before he could finish the thought a horn beeped. "That's my cue. We'll finish this discussion later."

"You mean you'll get set straight by me later." Carri replied as she walked over to give her brother a hug goodbye.

"She might be a lost cause." Rocky spoke up, grinning as looked over at Carri. They had had this argument many a times. And she was not backing down.

Josh laughed as he returned his sister's hug. "We'll see." He replied before letting Carri go and turning his attention toward Kat. "I'll see you later." He said giving his cousin a hug as well.

"It was good to see you." Kat replied as she returned his hug.

Lastly Josh turned his attention toward Rocky. "Keep an eye on her for me will you?" he asked as he stuck his hand out. He liked the guy his sister had chosen to date. He was surprised, he had been ready to come down here and pull her sister away from whatever jerk was giving her attention. But Rocky seemed like a good guy who really cared about his sister. He hadn't spent much time with him but he had a good feeling about this one.

Rocky reached out and shook Josh's hand. "Of course." He replied. He didn't need Josh to ask him to do that, he was always looking out for Carri. But it was nice that he did. It meant that Carri may have been right all along. Rocky let Josh's hand go and put his arm around Carri.

Josh grabbed his bags and grinned at Carri and Rocky. "You two have fun." He said as he headed out the front door.

"So much for that visit." Carri commented as she walked over and closed the door behind her brother.

Rocky smiled and looked over at her. "You were right you know."

Carri gave him a satisfied smile as she crossed her arms. She knew Josh and she knew Rocky. Rocky was a great guy and there was no reason for Josh not to like him. With the guys he didn't like, she tended to know the reasons why before he ever told them to her. "I'm always right."

Kat rolled her eyes. Telling Carri she was right was just feeding the fire. "I'm going to have to disagree with you."

"Once in a lifetime and always are two different things." Rocky teased, agreeing with Kat.

Carri shot them both a look as she let out an aggravated grunt. "Fine then." She said as she marched over to the couch. "If you guys are going to be that way I'm just going to sit over here. By myself."

Kat glanced over toward Rocky and smiled. "No loss for us."

Rocky chuckled as he walked over behind the couch and leaned down to give his girlfriend a kiss. "I need to get going anyway." He said. She turned toward him and snuck another kiss before saying goodbye.

As Rocky exited the house, Kat walked over and sat down on the couch beside her cousin. "So what do you want to do now?"

Carri turned on the television and flipped over to NBC. "The Sunday night movie this week is supposed to be good." She said. It would be worth checking out. Besides they didn't have anything better to do.

"Why not." Kat said as she made herself comfortable and the movie came up on the screen.

* * *

The next afternoon the rangers were sitting in class, anxiously awaiting the final bell. Eventually it went off, and the entire class sat up and started packing their things away. The rangers hurried toward the classroom door where they were greeted by Adam.

"Time for the rematch." Adam said with a smile. He had been waiting all weekend for their sparring rematch.

"Let's go." Tommy replied, grinning back at him. This was going to be fun. However he had a feeling he knew how it was going to end already.

The rangers headed for the building's exit, each of them piling into the cars of those that drove that morning. Within minutes they had arrived at the Youth Center and they started to file in. Tommy and Adam headed in first and Rocky walked with Carri and Kat.

"You girls can't miss this." Rocky said with a grin. Although he doubted they would. Besides the fact that they had nothing better to do, this was more interesting than their usual sparring.

Carri grinned back at him as she reached up and draped an arm over his shoulder. "Wouldn't miss it for the world." She replied as they headed through the Youth Center's front door.

"Now all we're waiting for is." Adam stopped short when he saw Billy walk out from around the corner.

"Let's get this started." Billy said with a smile. He, like Adam, had been looking forward to this all weekend.

The boys quickly ran and changed as Kat and Carri made them-selves comfortable at one of the tables. A few minutes later they returned, dressed and ready to spar. Adam stepped on the mat for his and Billy's side while Tommy and Rocky discussed who was going first.

"Do you want first crack at them or should I take it?" Tommy asked. Although in the long run it really didn't matter, he kind of wanted to get his shots in first.

"Go ahead." Rocky said as he gave a nod toward the mats. He didn't have a preference and Tommy looked ready to go.

Tommy nodded and jumped over onto the mats face to face with Adam. Both boys shifted into fighting stance and once they were ready the match began. It was intense right from the start as both boys were trying hard to be victorious.

"Come on Tommy!" Carri yelled from the sidelines as she and Kat cheered on Tommy and Rocky's team.

"This doesn't seem fair." Billy commented, noting that both female rangers were cheering for the other team. He expected Carri to, after all Rocky was her boyfriend. But he was hoping Kat would cheer for the other side to make it even. "Where are our cheerleaders?"

"You've got two." Adam pointed out as he ducked Tommy's advances. "Why don't one of you girls come to our side." He suggested as he took a swing at Tommy.

Tommy managed to miss being hit by Adam's fist. "They're on the same side because," he paused long enough to get Adam's feet out from under him, "they know which team is going to win." He finished as Adam hit the ground.

Adam rolled out of the way and jumped up, going against Tommy furiously. A few minutes later the results were the same, with Adam on his back on the mat. As Adam stood, Tommy hopped off the mat and switched with Rocky.

Carri cheered loudly as her boyfriend took his turn and Rocky looked over and caught her eye. "Watch this." He said as he went after Adam.

A few minutes later, the exhausted green ranger went down for a third time. Adam stood and decided it was past time to take a break and let Billy have a go at it. "Show them your science." Adam said as he stepped off the mat.

"No problem." Billy replied. He had been thinking about the science all afternoon. He was ready to put some new theories into play. "Are you ready?" he asked Rocky as he moved into fighting stance.

Rocky smiled as he saw the look of determination in his friend's eyes. "Let's see what you've got."

Billy and Rocky started to go at it. A few minutes in Billy had found himself on his back twice. Frustrated that he was doing no better than Adam, he stood and looked at all the competitors. "Let's get everyone out on the mat and finish this."

Tommy and Adam wasted no time jumping back in and seconds later the four boys were all going at it on the sparring mat. Kat and Carri looked at each other oddly; they had never seen them spar like that before.

"What are they doing?" Kat asked her cousin, hoping that the yellow ranger was let in on something she didn't know.

Carri shrugged. She knew just as much as Kat did. "No clue. We'll just cheer." That was as good of an idea as any.

"Sounds good." Kat replied as she watched the mess of boys on the mat. "Go Tommy and Rocky!" she yelled as Carri whistled and joined in.

A few minutes later Rocky pulled Adam down and Tommy pulled Billy down, both of them getting in their final shots. A defeated Adam and Billy stood and watched while Tommy and Rocky celebrated, exchanging high fives and words of praise.

Once they were done celebrating with each other, they turned and congratulated Billy and Adam on their effort. "Are you guys satisfied?" Tommy asked, wondering if their second beating was going to end this argument.

"Not completely." Adam grumbled. He could beat them both; it was just an off day.

"But," Billy started with a sigh, ready to admit defeat, "for the moment science has been defeated by strength."

Rocky grinned as he glanced over and made eye contact with Tommy. At least one of them was admitting strength was better. "Come on we'll buy you guy's drinks." He said as he headed over toward the counter.

Rocky and Tommy went to the juice bar and ordered and a few minutes later they found themselves joining the rest of their friends at a table. They handed the guys their drinks before taking their seats. As he sat, Rocky gave his girlfriend a kiss on the cheek and she smiled at him.

"Good job." Carri said, grinning at him before nodding toward Tommy.

"Thank you." Rocky replied. He always enjoyed the chance to show her his stuff. Especially when he won like that, he knew she didn't like him any less when he lost, but it was always nice to be able to show off in front of her.

"Yeah you guys did amazing." Kat chimed in as she glanced from Rocky to Tommy. It was fun to watch. Even Adam and Billy had done well and she and Carri had both told them so when they sat down. But Rocky and Tommy had dominated. She enjoyed watching them. She always liked watching Tommy spar. She couldn't help but think about how sexy he was out there on the mats. She tried to curb those thoughts, she wasn't going to sweep him away from Kim, but it was hard not to think about him like that.

Tommy shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "It was nothing." Everyone had fought well but he thought he would give Adam and Billy a hard time by implying that the fight had been easy.

"Nothing?" Adam questioned, crossing his arms over his chest.

Tommy chuckled. "You guys were good. We were just better." He joked.

"We were preoccupied with stuff." Adam replied. What stuff he wasn't sure but it sounded better than admitting they lost fair and square. "That's why strength won over science this time."

"Strength always wins over science." Tommy was quick to point out.

"You've got to have the science. Science is what gives you the advantage in the fight." Adam argued. Whether or not he agreed that science was more important didn't matter at this point. He was arguing for his team.

"Strength." Tommy spoke quickly.

"Science." Adam replied.

"Strength."

"Science."

"Strength."

Carri rolled her eyes and looked at the others at the table, none of whom wanted to listen to this argument. She was the first to stand and Rocky, Kat and Billy were quick to follow. "Let's head out."

"Yeah we have… stuff… to do." Rocky said as he grabbed Carri's hand and led her out. They had nothing planned but anything was better than listening to Tommy and Adam argue.

"I have work to do somewhere quieter." Kat said as she left behind them. She had nothing to do either, but she figured sitting at home doing homework was preferable to this.

"I have to do work where it is a little saner." Billy teased as he walked off to teleport back to the Power Chamber.

Tommy glanced over at Adam once all their friends were gone. "Are they saying we are loud and crazy?"

Adam appeared to be deep in thought for a moment. He knew what the answer was, but he wasn't going to admit to it. "No they couldn't be."

Tommy gave him a nod of agreement. "So where were we?" he asked as he grinned at Adam. "Oh yes, strength is better."

"Science." Adam quickly replied.

Tommy spoke again and the argument picked back up. Both the boys sat in the Youth Center trying to make their point as to what was better, strength or science.


	4. The Butterfly Effect

**Disclaimer:** The rangers are Disney's, everyone else is mine. Also there is a small scene from MMPR:TM in this fic and some of the lines were copied directly from the movie. Those are the property of the writers of the original film.  
**Author's Notes:** This is the premiere of this fic on this website. It was originally titled "Time Travel" when it was written years ago but I thought "The Butterfly Effect" was more appropriate as it is about how any change to the past changes the future. Hope you all enjoy. As always reviews are appreciated.  
Also in the Zeo timeline, the episodes that take place between "Oh Brother" and this story are the episodes "Graduation Blues" through "Mr. Billy's Wild Ride".

Ranger Scrolls  
"The Butterfly Effect"

November 8, 1996

It was a normal day at Angel Grove High School. And just like any other normal day between fifth and sixth period, Adam and Carri found themselves walking together toward their next class.

Carri was busy working on a cherry blow pop, trying to get to the gum before class started so that she could chew it while the teacher wasn't looking. She bit off some of the candy before turning toward Adam. "It's been a long day. And if I get one more paper assigned I swear I'm gonna kill somebody." She said the agitation clear in her voice as she used her blow pop to point randomly for effect.

Adam laughed. He knew the feeling well. It was that time of year. The end of the second quarter which was the end of the first semester were coming up soon and lots of teachers were giving huge assignments to be completed before Christmas break that would go toward their semester grades. But that still didn't excuse killing. "There's a law against that you know."

Carri rolled her eyes. "This is America. We have freedoms. You should have paid better attention in civics, there's a whole list of rights granted to us." Just because he was right and there was a law against killing someone didn't mean she wasn't going to try to make herself sound right.

"Yeah like the right to remain silent, the right to an attorney, and the right to a fair trial." Adam replied smiling at her. She would try her hardest to be right but sometimes there was no way to spin something. "Those are the rights you get for killing someone."

The duo turned a corner and Carri sighed. "Whatever. I'm just saying, if I get anymore papers I'm gonna… hey guys!" she stopped short and greeted Kat and Tommy with a wave of her hand.

"Hey." Tommy called back, grinning at Adam who looked like he was in the middle of an interesting conversation. He couldn't help but wonder what the duo was talking about.

Kat lifted her hand to wave when a bright light filled the hallway. Everyone shielded their eyes as Tommy and Kat tried to make their way toward their friends. As soon as this was over they were going to have to slip out and teleport off too see what is going on. In the middle of the bright light a black hole appeared. Kat and Tommy were caught off guard and within seconds they were swept away. The light faded and all that was left was a very concerned Adam and Carri.

November 8, 1993

Two figures were dropped behind some bushes. Both quickly started checking themselves out for injury. "Are you ok?" Tommy asked after he was satisfied that whatever just happened he was still in one piece.

Kat gave herself one last look over. "I'm fine." She replied.

They started to stand when they heard yelling. Tommy quickly crouched down behind the bushes and pulled Kat down with him. He wanted to figure out what was going on before they jumped into anything. A few seconds later it was obvious that the yelling was actually battle cries. Tommy peered over the bush with Kat cautiously joining them.

Upon realizing what was going on, they ducked back down. "We've got to help them." Tommy said, referencing the original rangers who they had seen struggling with a monster.

"I don't think we can." Kat said as she grabbed Tommy's arm before he could call on his zeonizer. Tommy gave her a sharp look and she elaborated. "This looks like the past. What if we help them and mess up our future?"

"What if we have already ruined the future just by being here?" Tommy questioned as Kat loosened her grip. "What if our friends die because of us? We can't let that happen."

Kat thought about it for a moment. She didn't know how their simply being there could change the past. But what if Tommy was right? "Alright." She finally spoke. If he was right they couldn't risk it.

Tommy nodded and stood Kat was right behind him. "It's morphin time!"

"Zeo ranger one, pink!"

"Zeo ranger five, red!"

The red ranger found himself getting grabbed by the monster of the week. He was tougher than any of Rita's previous creations and that had him worried. "I won't let you win!" Jason promised as the monster tried to move in for the kill.

"Power axe!" Zack yelled from off in the distance as he ran toward his friend. "I'm coming Jase!"

"Oh no you're not." The monster growled, watching as the black ranger leaped toward him. He used his antenna to shoot the ranger down midair.

Tommy ran in, ready to stand by his best friend. "Zeo five power weapon!" he called out. The weapon appeared in his hands as he came up behind the monster.

"Hey what do you think you're doing?" the monster growled as a second red ranger hit him hard, causing him to drop the first. Empress Rita was not going to be pleased.

"Funny I was just about to ask you the same question." Tommy replied, maneuvering to stand by Jason so that they could attack together. This was actually kind of fun; it reminded him of his early days as one of Zordon's rangers.

Jason glanced at the second red ranger curiously. He couldn't help but wonder who this guy was or what he was doing here. But he was obviously an ally and that would have to do for now. "Power sword!" he yelled as he stood by the red ranger.

"Two red rangers? This ought to be fun." The monster said as he looked them both over. He had to destroy them both. He wouldn't get a second chance if he failed.

On a different part of the battlefield, the rest of the original rangers found themselves surrounded by Rita's putties. Trini found herself staring at more of the grey nuisances than she ever had before. "I don't know if I can hold them off much longer."

"There's too many of them!" Kim exclaimed as she worked to fight them off. It seemed like they were coming at them from every direction.

"We're going to need help." Zack agreed with the girls. He had been swept away by the putties the moment he hit the ground from the monster attack. He hadn't had the chance to help Jason. Now somebody needed to help them.

"Jason is busy concentrating on the monster." Billy called out to his teammates. At least he was last time he saw him. And if he wasn't mistaken, Jason wasn't faring too well either. "If anyone requires assistance it is him."

"Zeo one, power weapon!" Kat called out as she went to join the others against the putties. She wanted to help Tommy but it appeared as though they needed her more. She used her shield to knock several of the putties out of the way as she approached the others. "Your backup has arrived."

"Another pink ranger?" Kim said curiously as she looked the girl over. She didn't even know that there could be two pink rangers. Of course this ranger's uniform was nothing like hers and she was curious as to what was going on.

Trini's thought's followed Kim's and she spoke aloud. "But I didn't think" before she could finish she was attacked and had to turn her attention back to the putties.

"Two pink rangers?" Billy questioned as he kicked a putty out of the way. "This will make for an interesting study."

"They'll be time to explain later." Kat spoke quickly somewhat amused by the reaction of her friends. It was evident that this was early in the rangers careers, probably much too early for them to realize that there were other rangers and other powers out there besides the ones they used. "Right now we have putties to take care of."

"Right." Zack agreed as he and the others went back to focusing on the fight. He had caught a glimpse of the other red ranger. He hadn't realized there was a pink one too. He couldn't help but wonder what other rangers they had lurking around.

He didn't have time to think about it as they had putties to fight. With Kat's help, the fight turned in their favor. They were able to quickly take out the rest of the putties. Once they were clear, the rangers went to join their leaders.

"Let's show this guy our fire power." Jason said as he gripped his weapon in his hands. It was time to finish this.

"Right." Tommy couldn't agree more. They needed to take this guy down and talk to the others, talk to Zordon and see what was going on.

"Power axe!" Zack yelled as he jumped into the air.

"Power bow!" Kim cried out as the rest of the rangers fell into formation.

"Power lance!" Billy said as he joined in.

"Power daggers!" Trini continued creating the Power Blaster.

"Power sword!" Jason completed the formation of their weapon.

"We need the Zeo Cannon now!" Tommy called out as the cannon fell into the hands of himself and Kat.

Almost in unison the seven rangers' yelled "fire!" and two powerful blasts hit the monster head on. He fell back to the ground and moments later he was hovering over them at city wrecking size.

"This isn't over yet. We need Dinozord power now!" Jason yelled. Within seconds the rangers were jumping into their zords. Quickly they formed the megazord, which immediately went for its saber to destroy the monster.

* * *

"Finster get in here!" Rita screeched. She was beyond angry that her perfectly good monster had been destroyed, once again, by those power brats. What was even worse is that they brought along two friends. Friends who apparently had access to the Zeo Crystal something that was supposed to be well hidden. Daddy was going to be quite perplexed when she passed along that little tidbit of information.

"Yes my queen?" Finster asked as he cautiously approached her.

"I need a new monster. More powerful than your usual pieces of junk." Rita said as she got in his face and spoke loudly. "Something that will destroy all seven of those rangers."

Finster thought for a moment about what he could come up with. "I have a monster that will blow all seven of those rangers away but it is going to take time."

Rita put a hand to her head. "Time? I don't have time!"

"I could keep the rangers busy while Finster worked." Goldar suggested. He liked any opportunity to go face off against the red ranger.

Rita considered Goldar's suggestion for a moment before turning and walking off with a groan. "I'm getting another headache." She whined as she left.

Once she was gone everyone scurried off to do what needed to be done before finding themselves faced with another one of Rita's explosions.

* * *

After defeating the monster, all seven of the rangers arrived in the Command Center. The rangers each powered down before Tommy and Kat spoke. "I'm Tommy, this is Katherine." He said quickly as he introduced them. "We're rangers from the future."

Jason nodded and gestured to the rest of the team. "And we're"

"Come on bro we know who you are." Tommy said with a smile. He watched as Jason gave him a confused look. Tommy felt like kicking himself. He didn't exist in their lives yet which meant he had never called Jason bro yet. Nor had he gotten together with his girlfriend yet, who was standing toward the back grinning as she looked him up and down. It was nice to see that she was interested. It made him miss her even more. It had been almost a year since they had last seen each other. He was trying to get her to come home for Christmas but there was no telling if she'd make it or not.

"Of course." Billy said as though it should be obvious to everyone. "If they really are rangers from our future they would know exactly who we are."

"Welcome Tommy and Katherine." Zordon said as he looked them over. He had a lot of questions for them, most of them he knew he couldn't ask. They had Zeo powers. As far as he knew the Zeo Crystal was hidden in such a way that Master Vile would never be able to get to it. Why would rangers go after it? Were these rangers his rangers, and did he send them after it? Their coins were fine. He would never risk sending them after the Zeo Crystal and alerting Master Vile to its location. Unless Vile came after it first. The future was something to ponder on but it was nothing to ask about.

"How did you arrive in the past?" Zordon asked the one question he could of the rangers.

"That's the part we're not exactly sure of." Tommy replied. He was hoping Zordon would have some answers for them but it was obvious he didn't.

"We were going to talk to some friends of ours when a bright light appeared." Kat said. They may not know specifics but at least they could fill Zordon in on what they did know. "The next thing we knew we were here."

Zordon thought for a moment. That couldn't be good for these two rangers standing before them and their future. "I must warn you rangers that your being here has most likely already altered your future."

"How badly?" Kat asked. That was what she was afraid of. She wanted things to be the way they were when she got back.

"The future is something that is impossible to predict." Zordon spoke. He knew it was possible to jump the timeline, as these Zeo rangers have shown. But once someone went back into the past and started to influence a secure timeline, who knew what kind of wave was going to be created and what it was going to alter in the future they left behind. Some waves could be small and unnoticeable while others had detrimental effects. "There is no way of knowing with certainty how much yours has changed."

Alpha looked at the two rangers. He had been silently scanning them since they entered. Whatever magic was used to bring them here had physically linked them to their younger selves in this era. That was not good. "The most important thing for your future is that you stay alive." Alpha spoke.

Tommy smiled at the little robot. "Isn't that common sense?" he questioned.

"The warning may sound silly but if you die in this world your younger selves will die with you. That will destroy the timeline you left behind." Alpha warned them.

Tommy gave him a slight nod. He wasn't quite sure how that worked but he couldn't risk changing the future like that. If their younger selves ceased to exist in this world everything would change.

"If it is alright with you Zordon, I would like to hear about the future that Tommy and Kat come from." Billy said. He was curious to know what the future held for him. He wanted to know if he was still a ranger, if his grades were still good, that sort of thing.

"It is not wise for them to talk to you about your future." Zordon replied. It was natural for them to be curious but if he had to come right out and forbid Tommy and Kat from saying anything about the future he would. They could easily do more damage than good.

"They could influence the decisions we make which would alter the future so much we wouldn't even know where to begin." Trini pointed out. She would admit to being curious as well but she didn't think it was worth the risk.

Billy blushed and put his head down. "I hadn't thought about that." He said somewhat shyly. He was usually the first to think of these things. It embarrassed him that he hadn't thought about it. He hated embarrassing himself in front of Trini.

"Come on guys, let's go drab a drink at the juice bar before it closes." Zack said, changing the subject to hopefully improve the mood a bit.

"Alright man." Jason said with a nod. "You owe me and Kim drinks." He pointed out. Of course they had been waiting for those drinks for a while now.

"Ah… how about an IOU?" Zack asked, although his friends were probably getting tired of IOU's. He had money saved up from his allowance but he'd spent it all on new sneakers that his parents had refused to waste money on. They had said if he wanted another pair of sneakers he'd have to buy them. The trouble was his allowance had been shrinking the older he got and he didn't have a job.

Kim huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, noticing Tommy grin at her from across the room. She shook off his look and focused on Zack. "That's what you said last time."

Zack threw his hands up in the air. "Look guys, I'm broke. I'll get you next time."

"Well, why don't you go do your little dance routine on the street and see if you can't get a couple of dollars." Kim said with a frown. It wasn't as though she needed Zack to buy her a drink. But it was the principle of the thing. He had lost a bet to her and Jason and he had to pay up. Last time she was on the losing end of a bet Zack had hounded her every minute for two days straight until she bought his lunch.

"Hey that would make me a millionaire." Zack said, pausing to do a little dance. "I'm so good people would be dropping twenties left and right."

Jason couldn't help but chuckle. His friend was good, but not that good. "Dream on man."

Billy looked at his friend, who had resumed showing off his dance movies. Realistically Zack bringing in a high amount of money quickly was not statistically probable. "Zack, the chances that you showing your ability to move to music, and that ability bringing you extremely high dollar amounts in a short period of time are statistically lower than one percent."

Zack stopped dancing and looked at him. "Repeat that just a bit slower." He said. Billy was a good friend but sometimes he drove him nuts when he spoke in his own little language.

Billy started to repeat himself when Trini cut in. "He said that you dancing and getting big bucks in a few hours wouldn't happen." She didn't mind translating for Billy. She had been doing it for years as half the time she was the only one who understood what he was saying.

"Oh." Zack said as he thought about it for a moment. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

Billy was unsure of how to reply to Zack's sarcasm but he didn't have to worry about it for long. "Come on guys let's go." Kim said. This conversation was going nowhere quickly.

The others agreed and within seconds they were all hitting the button on their communicator to teleport away.

November 9, 1993

Kat and Tommy woke up early the next morning and decided to go for a jog while the rangers were in school. They figured it would help them clear their minds a bit and it would be good exercise.

"We need to find a way to alert our team in the future of what happens to us." Kat said as she jogged alongside Tommy. It was fun to do and it really was giving her the opportunity to think. Plus she had a cute jogging partner. Although the way he had been staring at Kim reminded her that although she was in Florida, they were still together. "Maybe we can figure out a way to stop it before it happens."

"Yeah." Tommy agreed with a nod. He worried it about what they were changing by being here. Stopping their transportation ahead of time would be the best idea. "But we have to figure out how to get them all of the information."

Kat thought about it for a moment. There was one thing that might work. "We could make a recording of us talking about what happened. Then get it to play in the Power Chamber on November sixth."

"Then we would have two days to set everything straight." Tommy said as he thought her idea over.

"That way we can fix the future." Kat said as she thought about it. She hoped they could fix it in one shot. "Or at least get everything moving in the right direction."

Tommy stopped jogging mid stride. "Kat you're brilliant." He said smiling at the pink ranger as she stopped and turned toward him. "Come on, we've to a tape to make."

Tommy quickly ushered her away from the main jogging trail. Once they were satisfied that they were far away from the public they teleported to the Command Center.

* * *

Later that afternoon Tommy and Kat headed to the Youth Center to wait for the other rangers to get done with class. They had made their tape and they had to wait and see if it was enough. No one was quite sure what would happen. Tommy had wondered if they would cease to exist if the future was fixed. Zordon had said that was a complex question, one that they wouldn't be certain of until the time came.

Tommy let out a small sigh as the rangers headed through the door of the Youth Center. "Man that was a tough test." Zack said as he made his way over toward their new friends.

"You know what," Kim started as she bounced over to the table beside Zack, giving Tommy a quick grin before refocusing on her friend, "I think I am protesting tests from here on out."

Trini giggled as she walked up behind them. "Somehow I don't think that would go very far with our teachers."

Kim shrugged her shoulders and grinned at the yellow ranger. "It's worth a try."

"I thought the test was rather easy." Billy said, watching the other three rangers sit before joining them. The formulaic calculations had been easier than the last test, and the rest of it was simply memorization.

Jason slapped his hand on Billy's back as he took the final seat. "Next time you can give me the answers then." He joked.

Billy's horrified expression caused a few of the rangers to crack smiles. "But that would be cheating!"

"Don't worry man." Jason said as he couldn't help but chuckle. "I was kidding; I'd never ask you to cheat."

"So did you guys do anything interesting today?" Kim asked as she glanced toward Tommy. She had spent half her day thinking about him. She could tell by the way he looked at her that he was interested in her too. She couldn't help but wonder if they dated, or would date. She wasn't sure what the proper way to address something that they knew was going to happen but hadn't happened yet would be. But then again Kat seemed interested in him too and she wondered if something was going on between them. It was confusing and it drove her crazy.

"Not really." Tommy said with a shrug. He didn't want to get into the details of their day. Hopefully things would play out right and this conversation wouldn't matter. Although he did hope he would be able to remember seeing Kim again. He tried to push past that and continued. "Same old stuff as usual."

"At least you didn't have to take the test." Zack grumbled. He was dreading getting the results back next week.

"Well well. Look who we have here." Bulk said as he and Skull made their way to the large table.

"Who's the hot blonde?" Skull asked as he peered over Bulk's shoulder to get a better look.

Kim rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "That's none of your business." It was bad enough that she had to put up with Skull. She wasn't going to put that on Kat.

"Kimmie baby, you getting jealous?" Skull questioned grinning at her.

"Please." Kim said rolling her eyes more dramatically than before. "Since I'm not your baby I have nothing to be jealous of."

"Come on baby give me a kiss. Then I promise I'll leave you alone." Skull said as he leaned across the table toward Kim.

"Alright." Kim said as she grinned. This would be too good. She always appreciated the opportunity to remind Skull to leave her alone. "Close your eyes and come here."

"But Kim." Trini started to protest, but Kim held a hand up to stop her.

Skull leaned further in and closed his eyes, lips puckered in anticipation. Kim reached over and grabbed Tommy's drink, splashing it all over a surprised Skull. Her table burst out laughing.

"Who do you think you are?" Skull exclaimed as he stood and opened his eyes. He'd admit to being embarrassed by Kim. And it really made him angry.

"It was your idea wasn't it?" Bulk asked, turning toward Jason and pointing a finger at him.

Jason chuckled and shook his head. "No but I wish it was." The dynamic duo hadn't left Kim alone for a long time. It bothered him. Kim was like his sister and he'd stand up for her whenever possible.

"Punks." Bulk said stepping back and crossing his arms, giving the table his best dirty look. "You just wait. You'll regret messing with us."

"Yeah you'll regret it." Skull chimed in as he mimicked his best friend's pose.

Zack leaned up closer to the table. "You guys should just get out of here." He suggested. They drove him crazy. He didn't know what made those two tick.

"Shut up. We don't take suggestions from no one." Skull said as he snarled at him.

"Come on Skull, let's go." Bulk spoke, turning and gesturing for Skull to do the same.

"I'll be back for you babe." Skull said pointing toward Kim before he turned to join Bulk.

Kim snorted. "Dream on." She said as they walked away from the table. She sighed once they were out of earshot. "I can't believe him."

"They'll learn one day." Jason replied with a smile. Even if he had to be the one to teach them why they needed to leave Kim alone.

As Jason finished speaking their communicators went off. Quickly the rangers stood and made their way toward their usual teleportation corner. Both Jason and Tommy lifted their communicators up. "What is it" they both started to speak at the same time.

Jason shot Tommy a look and to the other red rangers credit he immediately backed off. "What is it Alpha?" Jason asked.

Alpha's robotic voice came through loud and clear. "Rita has sent a group of putties along with Goldar to Angel Grove Park. You must morph and teleport immediately."

"We're on it." Jason said, putting his hand down as he did a quick glance around. As usual, no one was anywhere to be found. He put his hand behind his back as he reached for his coin. "It's morphin time!"

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Saber-toothed tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

"Zeo ranger one, pink!"

"Zeo ranger five, red!"

"Rangers it's nice of you to come." Goldar said when all seven of his opponents finally arrived on the battlefield.

"You won't be so happy to see us when we're done." Zack promised as he stared the monkey down.

Tommy and Jason quickly called on their weapons and charged Goldar while the others went after the putties. "This will be your last fight with me." Tommy promised as he attacked with his sword.

"Foolish red ranger." Goldar said as he wondered who this ranger was. "This is my first battle with you. And it will be your last." He promised.

Jason watched as Tommy simply shook his head. He couldn't help but be curious as to how many battles he had fought with Goldar. He couldn't imagine how hard it was for Tommy to forget that so much of his life hasn't happened yet.

Goldar snarled and took a swing at Jason who ducked and refocused on him. "Didn't your mother ever teach you not to make promises you couldn't keep?" he asked as he landed a hit on the gold monkey.

Elsewhere on the battlefield the remainders of the rangers were facing the putties. "You again?" Kim asked as she knocked two of them over.

"Doesn't Rita ever learn?" Trini questioned, smiling from beneath her helmet as she took a putty out.

"If she did she would have given up by now." Zack pointed out as he took out a few putties of his own.

All the rangers fought hard with the two red rangers holding Goldar at bay, and the rest of the team taking out putties. The fight lasted about twenty minutes before Goldar snarled at Tommy and Jason and took off, taking the putties with him.

"What was that about?" Tommy asked. It wasn't like Goldar was visibly losing. And it wasn't like him to just take off like that for no reason.

"I don't know." Jason said as he thought about it. "But whatever it is I don't like it."

The rangers quickly teleported themselves to the Command Center. Upon arriving they were immediately greeted by Zordon. "Welcome back rangers."

"Aye ai ai!" Alpha exclaimed once the rangers were powered down. "Rangers we are not certain what Rita's plans are but there's a lot of activity going on at her palace."

"Is there anything we can do?" Jason asked. He wished there was a way to go up there and stop the attack before it happened.

"I am afraid not rangers." Alpha replied. They had no available course of action until they knew what Rita was doing.

Zordon saw the buzz among his rangers. They were right to be concerned about Rita but there was something else that was even more pressing. "Tommy and Katherine, your fighting skills are excellent. However I am afraid that you're fighting with the rangers of the past is creating more problems for your future. I am afraid I must ask you to stop." Something had shifted during that last battle, he could sense it. It was simply much too risky to let them continue fighting.

"But Zordon." Tommy started to protest. He couldn't quit fighting now. His friends needed him.

"There is nothing I can do." Zordon spoke quickly before Tommy could speak further. He was much too young to fully understand the workings of the universe. They shouldn't be here; he simply could not let them continue to alter the future anymore.

Tommy and Kat frowned. Noticing the mood change in the Command Center, Zack spoke. "Hey guess what?"

"What?" Jason asked. He was concerned about Rita but they'd have to wait and see what would happen. He was also somewhat concerned about the future but it was obvious Zordon didn't know or wouldn't say exactly what was going on. Hopefully Zack had a good distraction.

"I have money today." Zack told them with a grin. "So I can actually pay my IOU."

Kim crossed her arms over her chest and grinned at him. "Well it's about time."

"Come on. Let's go cash it in before he changes his mind." Jason said, quickly grabbing on to both Zack and Kim and teleporting the three of them away.

"I vote we accompany them." Billy spoke up after the black, red and pink streaks had completely vanished.

"I agree." Trini replied. She had assumed they would return to the juice bar anyway.

Tommy and Kat nodded and the remaining rangers went to join their friends for the rest of the afternoon.

* * *

"My queen I have created the perfect mold for a monster." Finster said as he approached Rita.

"Sure took you long enough." Baboo said as he glanced over at the resident monster maker.

"Silence!" Rita screeched as she turned her attention toward Finster. This had better be good. "What is it?"

Finster gave her a quick nod before launching into his explanation. "The monster I have is capable of firing a shot that will kill all seven rangers upon impact."

"Perfect." Rita said, glaring at him as he just stood there. "So what are you waiting for?"

"I must warn you, because of the tremendous amount of power he uses we will only get one chance to do this. The monster will have one shot and if it misses"

"It had better not miss." Rita threatened as she turned toward Finster.

Finster bowed in front of her, hoping for his sake that the monster was more competent than some of the other ones that had been put out. He quickly scurried off to finish his weapon of mass destruction.

November 10, 1993

It was a sunny Friday afternoon in southern California. All seven rangers found themselves walking through the park together. Kim was practically skipping through the grass. "No more school, no more tests." She said in a sing song voice.

Jason chuckled. "Just for the weekend." He quickly pointed out. He hated to burst her bubble but two days off wasn't enough of a break to celebrate not having school or tests.

"Stop it you're ruining my fun." Kim pouted. She knew that. But it had been a harsh week and she was going to enjoy her weekend.

"But Jason does" Billy started to speak.

"No, no, no!" Kim quickly cut Billy off. He'd never see her point of view. He didn't have to work as hard to be good at tests and papers. "I don't want to hear it. I want to be free. Free from three zillion page English reports."

"Three zillion pages?" Trini questioned, smiling at her friend. "Wow Kim I'm sure you got A's on all of those."

Kim stuck her tongue out at Trini as Zack jumped in for her defense. "Don't worry Kim, I think I wrote three zillion pages too."

"You guys just." Tommy stopped short when he saw the army that had appeared in front of them.

Goldar and the putties stared at the rangers. "Welcome rangers to your worst nightmare."

"Can't you come up with anything better?" Zack questioned, feeling pretty confident about the battle so far.

"It's morphin time!" Jason yelled before Goldar could come up with any sort of response.

The five rangers morphed as Tommy and Kat slipped away. Goldar looked curiously at the five of them. "What about your friends?"

"Don't worry about them." Kim said as she moved into fighting stance. "You have us to deal with now."

As the fight began Tommy and Kat found themselves slipping behind a tree to watch and hide. Neither was keen on the idea but Zordon hadn't given them much of a choice.

The fight went on and Tommy found himself feeling uncomfortable. The fight was mild, and two mild fights back to back like that weren't normal. "Something isn't right."

"I agree." Kat said. She had gotten the same bad feeling as he did. "I just wish I knew what." She sighed and turned to push her hair back. That was when she saw the monster fly through the air, hitting the ground and putting his hands behind his back, looking as though he was preparing to fire something at the rangers. "Tommy look!"

Tommy snapped his head in the direction Kat was pointing. Although the fight was easy the rangers were outnumbered and would never get away to see the monster in time. Both Tommy and Kat jumped up and ran out of hiding, yelling at their friends and trying to get their attention.

But by the time the rangers heard them it was too late. Tommy and Kat ran in front of the monster just as he fired. Those on the battlefield scattered as the two Zeo rangers absorbed the blast and were killed in the process. Everyone good and evil was stunned as Rita had finally managed to kill two of the Power Rangers.

November 6, 1996

It was a normal day at Angel Grove High. The two female power rangers found themselves walking down the hallway together before class. The pink ranger turned and smiled at one of her closest friends. "Big sale this weekend. You in?" Carri asked.

Ashley Hammond's eyes lit up at the mention of a sale. "Of course I'm in." The yellow ranger replied as though it was the strangest question she'd ever heard. "Just name the time and place."

"I knew you wouldn't say no." Carri replied with a grin. "Never say no to shopping."

"It's bad for your health." Ashley said seriously before both girls looked at each other and giggled.

Carri sighed as the giggling stopped. She was ready for this school week to be over. "It needs to hurry up and get to the weekend."

"Do you have big plans this weekend?" Ashley asked raising an eyebrow. She knew about the shopping they had just discussed but she couldn't help but wonder if Carri and her boyfriend had something going on.

"Kind of." Carri replied. She had discussed going out with her boyfriend. Maybe, but they didn't have any details. But they were supposed to do something fun. But she didn't know. "I don't know. We'll see."

Ashley rolled her eyes at her friend. "Make up your mind already."

"What about you?" Carri asked, turning the tables on her friend as she gave her a devilish look. "Do you have a date this weekend?"

Ashley shrugged as she made a face. "I've had a few guys ask me out."

"But not the one you want." Carri finished for her as they approached one of the other rangers sitting on a staircase. It was obvious who Ashley was interested in as her gaze fell immediately to the white ranger. Carri shook her head. He was oblivious but he'd clue in one day, if Carri had to push him herself.

"Not yet." Ashley said to herself as Carri gave her a nod in understanding.

"Hey what's up?" Carri questioned, quickly moving on from the subject she and Ashley had been discussing earlier.

The white ranger frowned. It was the same thing that was always going on with him. "Just trying to remember something." Zhane said with a sigh. It was difficult; he'd take any memory at this point.

"That's got to be tough." Ashley said as she and Carri each took a seat next to him. She was hoping that cozying up to him and showing him she cared would get his attention and get him to finally ask her out.

"Yeah." He replied. It was hard not to remember anything about who he was. His earliest memory was waking up in the Command Center. Zordon had warned him that he may never remember. But that didn't mean he wasn't going to try.

What he didn't know, what only Zordon and Alpha knew in full was that Zhane was once the Silver Astro Ranger. He was on a mission of his own, one that had ended in a confrontation with Darkonda. He tried to escape on his Galaxy Glider and had zipped through two galaxies. He was certain he'd gotten away until Darkonda shot him down over Earth.

Fortunately for him his powers kept him alive through the fall. Zordon found him and sent the rangers to retrieve him. He hadn't told his teens much of who the mystery man was but they brought him back so that Alpha could scan him. There were a few things that quickly became obvious. Zhane was alive but his mind had been scrambled and he'd most likely never remember who he was. Plus his morpher was toast, destroyed by a combination of Darkonda's blast and entering the Earth's atmosphere and hitting the ground.

Zordon couldn't send him home because his home colony, KO-35, had been destroyed. He didn't want to just send him out on his own on Earth. Because he was such a good ranger, Zordon didn't want to lose him as an asset. That was why he created the white ranger for him. And to help him adjust he created an Earth based identity for him so he could attend school with the other rangers.

As the girls tried to reassure Zhane that everything was alright, Billy approached the group with a letter in his hand. "Look what I've got."

"What is it?" Ashley asked as she tried to read the paper he was waving around.

"It's a letter from my girlfriend." Billy said feeling a blush creep into his cheeks. It was odd having a girlfriend. He had never thought anyone would like him, let alone her.

"A letter from Kim?" Carri questioned excitedly. Kim had been one of the first friends she had made when she moved back and they became quite close. That was one of the reasons why Kim chose her to be the pink ranger when she left. "Let me see."

"Man Billy you've got it all." Zhane said as Billy handed the letter over to Carri. "I want women to write me letters."

Ashley frowned as Billy chuckled. "We can't all be that lucky."

Before Zhane could reply, the black ranger came running down the hallway and stopped in front of his friends. "What day is it?" Zack questioned frantically.

"November sixth. Why?" Ashley asked, wondering what exactly Zack was up to now.

Zack's eyes opened wide as he skipped up and sat down behind the others before ripping open his backpack and rummaging through his stuff. "The history report is due today. I've got to finish it."

Carri stopped reading the letter as she thought about the date. This was always the time of the year that she remembered, that the tragedy that jumped back into the forefront of her thoughts. Her eyes watered and before she could stop it a tear rolled down her cheek. She batted it away in irritation. She told herself she wasn't going to cry over it anymore.

The team's leader arrived just in time to see her bat her tear away and he jumped over to her and put an arm around her. "What's wrong?" the red ranger asked.

Carri looked up at Rocky and did her best to give him the "everything is ok" smile. "I was just thinking about, I mean it's just that it's November again and we're two days from the anniversary of Kat's death and." She stopped short as she let out a sniffle, batting away another stray tear before it fell too far.

Rocky pulled her closer and held her tightly. He knew she wasn't going to cry now if she could help it. But thinking about it made her upset. The team all felt for her as they realized what was bothering her and they stopped for a moment of silence.

They all knew the story. Most of them had heard it when she moved back to Angel Grove and Ashley and Zhane had both picked up on it later. In four days it would be the three year anniversary of her cousin and best friend's death. Katherine Hillard was in Australia, attending diving practice when the board, that had been used all day with no problems, suddenly snapped out from under her. She fell and smashed the base of her skull on the concrete edge of the pool on the way down. By the time the paramedics came it was too late.

Carri had already been depressed about leaving California a few months prior and moving to New York with her family. The news of her cousin's death devastated her. That was why, shortly before sophomore year was set to start her mother moved both of her children back to Angel Grove and her father currently commuted cross country several times a month in his private jet to run the New York branch of his production company.

Even thought it had been a horrible incident, Rocky was glad that it had brought Carri to Angel Grove. Carri met Kim on the first day of class and they clicked. When Aisha joined them for lunch it was a nonstop chatter fest and Rocky, Billy and Zack had thought they'd have to leave just for some peace and quiet. But it all worked out well in the end. Carri and Rocky started dating a few months later and have been together ever since. That same year Carri found out their identities, which she kept a secret as she did her best to help them in the fight against evil as a civilian. That was why when Kim left for Florida the following summer she chose Carri as her replacement.

After the second quarter of their junior year, Aisha's father got a new job and her family moved. Carri suggested Ashley as her replacement, a girl who she was friends with in one of her elective classes who had helped her fight against putties one day. Toward the end of the school year Zhane joined the team and they had been going on like that since then.

Carri's sigh brought Rocky back to the present and he looked down at her. "It's ok." Carri said as the sorrow passed and her eyes dried up. "I miss Kat but out of that tragedy, came my life here with you guys so everything ended up better than ok." She said giving her friends a smile. It was hard getting over Kat's death. But moving back to Angel Grove was what finally made her smile again and although she would love to have Kat back she couldn't be happier.

Zack nudged her with his foot from his seat behind the rangers. "Getting the chance to come to Angel Grove to hang out with me is bound to brighten up your day a little bit." He smiled as Carri chuckled. Anything she might say was cut off by the bell indicating that they had five minutes before their first class began. Zack scribbled furiously the last few sentences of his report. "Finished. Now we can go to class."

The rangers stood so they could get moving to their classes. Rocky gave Carri a quick hug then she stepped away from him. "Let's take off before Zack gets a chance to speak too highly of himself again." Carri teased as she approached Ashley.

"Bye guys." Ashley said giving the male rangers a wave as they took off for class.

"She's just jealous." Zack said as he bounded down to the bottom of the stairs to gather with the rest of his team.

"Of what?" Billy questioned, looking at Zack and smiling. Although he missed the original rangers, he liked his new team as the banter between them was often amusing.

Zack shrugged and pointed to himself as they started walking. "Let's get to history." Zack said as he fell to the back of the pack to stand next to Zhane.

"At least they get to go to a fun class." Rocky said, gesturing to the girls who had just disappeared from view. He would much rather go to gym class than any other class. It wasn't that he wasn't good at his core subjects. But he thought given the choice between playing basketball or studying English monarchs, gym class was quite the obvious pick.

"I would love to be in their gym class." Zhane said as he thought about it. He would love to take gym with them; the girls in their class were good looking. But it was just as well, everything was so scrambled for him that he didn't know if he was ready for a girlfriend.

"Have you seen the girls in that class?" Zack asked as his eyes lit up and he turned toward Zhane. He let out a low whistle before continuing. "I'd like to take some of them out."

Zhane nodded and Billy shook his head as they approached the classroom door. "Those of us with girlfriends are going to skip this conversation." He said as he and Rocky headed in and went for their seats.

"I asked Meghan out once." Zack said as they head into their class, referencing the tall blonde that had just started school at Angel Grove High that year. "She turned me down though. She doesn't know what she's missing." It was just as well. According to Carri and Ashley, Meghan was quite the snob, reminding those around her quite often of who she was and what kind of money and power her family came from.

Zhane went to his seat and slid in, slouching back and putting his hands behind his head. "If you had my charm and good looks, getting dates wouldn't be a problem."

"Have you ever been turned down?" Zack asked as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the desk next to Zhane.

"Not that I can remember." Zhane replied with a grin on his face. Considering his memories only extended a few months back and he hadn't asked anyone out since he had recovered, he had a perfect record.

"That's right." Zack said triumphantly as he grinned. "See what you can't remember is that you were a dork with no life who couldn't get a date if his life depended on it." Perhaps it wasn't fair to pick on the guy with no memories but it was fun none the less.

Rocky sighed and turned around in his seat. "Are you still upset because the rest of us know how to get women?" It was easy to tease Zack about dates. It wasn't like he didn't get any, he had plenty of dates. But he asked out a lot of girls and had plenty of them say no as well.

"Watch this." Zack said as he walked up to a girl sitting a few seats in front of his friends. He didn't know Kristen that well but he'd be willing to give it a shot if by some chance she said yes. "You me, Saturday night. What do you say?"

Kristen looked up at him in surprise. She had hardly said two words to Zack Taylor in the nearly year and a half she'd been at Angel Grove High. They didn't share the same friends and this was their first class together. And this was how he was going to officially introduce himself. "Sorry." She replied giving him a look. "I have to wash my dog."

His friends burst out laughing as Zack shrugged and went back to his seat. "You can't blame a guy for trying." He said with a smile as the final bell rang.

"Alright class, settle down." Mrs. Richardson said as she motioned for the class to sit down and be quiet. "I hope you all have your reports finished."

"Of course Mrs. Richardson." Zack said with a smile. "I've had mine done for a week now." He added. Zack turned just in time to see Rocky roll his eyes and Billy smile and shake his head. A week, five minutes, really done was done so what was the difference.

"Well then pass it on up." Mrs. Richardson said with a smile. It was quite obvious that Zack was lying. If the reactions of his friends didn't give him away, no student ever finished a paper a week in advance. She wasn't stupid. She noticed Zack reach for his paper and the other students not moving. "That went for all of you."

Mrs. Richardson watched as the boys whispered something to each other and laughed while passing the papers forward. She simply smiled and shook her head as she collected the papers from all from her students. "Alright. Let's get started." She said as she prepared to start her lecture.

* * *

Ashley put her elbow on the table and slouched against the palm of her hand as she leaned down to take a sip of her soda. "I had such a boring day today."

"Why's that Ash?" Zhane asked as he looked curiously at the yellow ranger. Although he was sure he could sympathize, his day wasn't the world's most thrilling either.

"So I had gym which was fun." Ashley started off with a brief description of her day. "Then I had two tests back to back and four straight lectures. I was struggling to stay awake at the end of the day."

Rocky grinned, sitting down at their table in the Youth Center with his snack just in time to hear what Ashley was saying. "That's what you get for taking sociology and psychology as electives." He always tried to choose his electives wisely. They were the only real break in his day.

"I happen to find psychology interesting." Billy replied. He was fascinated with the work of early psychologists.

Zhane grinned at Ashley before turning and making eye contact with Carri. "You should be in our sports medicine class."

Carri's eyes lit up in agreement. "Yeah that class is so much fun." It was too bad that she was a senior this year; she'd love to take the two classes that followed this one.

"How many times this year have we been on task?" Zhane asked. He lifted the corners of his mouth into a small smile and the pink ranger couldn't help but laugh.

"We at least get a good five minutes of material that's class related before we're off and running." Carri replied. It didn't take much for their teacher to get distracted and go off on a tangent on something else.

"My point exactly." Zhane said turning toward Ashley. If it wasn't so late in the year she could transfer and hang out with them in sports medicine. As it was she was stuck with what she got.

"My electives are just fine thank you." Ashley replied, defending her choice in classes. Something like sports medicine would be a lot of fun to take but she really was learning stuff from her classes and she enjoyed it. "Psychology isn't too bad. Sociology is kind of boring though."

"That's why I never took sociology." Billy spoke up. He had heard it wasn't the most exciting of the social sciences. There were better things to study when it came to that, such as geography or political science.

"You guys need to be in theatre." Zack said as he lifted his hand and pointed at the other rangers. "Now that's the best class." Dance class as an elective wasn't exactly the kind of dance he was into but theatre had been a great way to be creative and have a little fun.

"At least my electives are educational." Ashley pointed out. Of course sports medicine and theatre could be, but the way they talked about them they were junk classes.

Rocky swallowed a bite of his food as he rolled his eyes. "You guys this argument over electives is stupid."

Ashley narrowed her eyes as she looked across the table at him. "I believe you started it."

Rocky grinned goofily at her. "Forget about that." His mind had wandered away from the conversation and the fact that he was the first one to start the discussion in that direction was something that he had forgotten.

Before anyone else could speak, their communicators went off. "Duty calls." Zack said as they all got up to the table and headed over toward their normal spot.

"What is it Zordon?" Rocky asked once they were certain they were secure.

"Rangers you must teleport to the downtown construction site immediately." Zordon spoke quickly. The world was in trouble, the rangers needed to move swiftly. He hoped his team was ready for what they were about to face. "A capsule has been open which houses the intergalactically feared Ivan Ooze. You must close that capsule. If he is freed, the world will be in grave danger."

"We're on it Zordon." Rocky said as he looked over at his team-mates. They all nodded and moved into position and swiftly teleported themselves away.

It was a short jump to the construction site. They looked around as soon as they got there but their destination quickly became obvious. Zack was the first to spot the big claw like structure sticking out of the ground and the others quickly followed him. At the bottom of the claw was what appeared to be half an egg with purple goop inside of it.

"Ew gross." Ashley said as she peered into the egg. You couldn't pay her enough money to reach down and grab that stuff.

Carri sighed as she surveyed the scene. She looked into the egg and looked around. She couldn't help but wonder what was in here and if it was at the bottom of the pile of purple snot. She was deep in thought when someone tapped her on the shoulder. Startled, she turned around to see a policeman standing there.

"Sorry kids this area is closed off to the public." The officer spoke quickly, giving the teens a look.

Carri smiled politely at him and resisted the urge to make a smart ass comment or roll her eyes. What exactly was this guys plan if he ran into this Ooze character? Scream and run for cover? But he didn't know who they were so she had to keep her comments to herself. It didn't happen often. Instead she asked him an appropriate question. "We're just looking to see what came out of this egg. We're thinking ugly looking creature. Have you seen him?"

The police officer grinned at her. "Did he look like this?" he asked as he transformed back into Ivan Ooze.

All at once the ranger's casual stance shifted and they moved back ready for a battle. "Gross." Carri said as they all assumed that this was the guy they were looking for.

"Too kind. Allow me to introduce myself." Ivan said as he grinned at the teenagers in front of him. "I am the galactically feared, globally reviled, universally despised. They call me Ivan Ooze." He said drawing out his name.

Rocky took a step forward and pointed at Ivan. The rangers weren't at all phased by his cockiness. They had certainly seen it before it the monsters they had faced. "Well pack your bags because we're sending you right back where you came from."

Ivan smiled and resisted the urge to laugh out loud. "A teenager with a big mouth. Not much has changed in six thousand years."

"You don't know who you're messing with." Zack was quick to point out. Hopefully this Ooze man had underestimated Earth's heroes and they would be able to take him down before the day was over.

"Oh really now?" Ivan questioned, although he had a good idea of who the five teens standing in front of him were. They were color coded, it was kind of obvious. "And who would that be?"

"We're the power rangers." Zack replied quickly as the team's confidence level seemingly went up a notch.

Ivan held his hands up while his face showed surprise. "The power rangers? Let me get my autograph book." He said making a face. He was right about their identities. "So Zordon is still using a bunch of kids to do his dirty work. Well meet my kids." With that he lifted his hands and ooze filled kids appeared from purple lightning strikes from his fingers. "From this moment forward the world as you know it will cease to exist. Welcome to my nightmare." With those final words Ivan took off, leaving his kids to destroy the rangers.

The ooze creatures moved toward them and Zhane took a look at the scenery behind him. "There's room down here." He said as he gestured to the solid ground below them.

The rangers turned and jumped down so that they would have more space to fight the ooze creatures. "Let's do this." Rocky said as the rangers jumped into fighting stance. The ooze creatures jumped down and stepped toward them and they charged, the fight officially beginning.

The rangers started with the upper hand but it wasn't long before they were all getting thrown around. Eventually they all ended up together again. "There's only one thing left to do." Rocky said as he helped his girlfriend back to her feet. It was time to step it up a notch. "It's morphin time!"

"Tigerzord!"

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Saber-toothed tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

"Where'd they go?" Zhane asked as he looked around. That was odd. In the brief seconds it took them to morph, the ooze guys had disappeared.

"I don't know." Rocky said as he looked around as well. "But we're going to find out."

The group walked into the skeleton of the building that was being erected on that site. "They've got to be around here somewhere." Ashley said as she turned her helmet's exterior lights on.

"There!" Zack exclaimed as he caught something moving out of the corner of his eyes. "I just saw one. Where did he" Zack didn't get to finish his sentence as the creature jumped him from behind.

"Found them." Zhane said as the fight was quickly going full swing.

"No kidding." Rocky replied, knocking an ooze creature into a pole. He was somewhat satisfied when it burst. One down, a lot more to go.

The rangers quickly found themselves splitting up to chase these guys around and destroy them. Ashley followed one of them upstairs. When she got to the top, she found him and one of his buddies waiting. "You know I really don't like you guys."

With that she kicked one of them and he tumbled off the side of the building, falling into the grate on the ground and bursting. She kicked the second one down and he landed on his feet. Moving swiftly she grabbed a piece of rope that the construction crew had been using and swung down, kicking him hard enough to send him into the wall and destroy him.

Elsewhere Carri found herself with three of them. She reached to her belt and grabbed her whip. She loved any chance to use it on the bad guys. "Let's play a little game." She said as she used the whip to bring them down.

She crossed her arms over her chest, quite satisfied with a job well done and ready to move on to take on the next group. She didn't realize they were waiting for her as two of them jumped her from above and pulled her down.

Billy rushed over there and kicked them off of her. "You shouldn't be ambushing my friends like that." He said as Carri stood. "You alright?"

"Never better." She replied, gripping her whip tighter as she was totally ready to take them on. Of course she didn't realize how many she was going to be taking on as the rest of the ooze creatures joined their buddies.

Carri and Billy looked from each other but before they could say anything a whistle from above caught their attention. They looked up and saw the rest of the rangers standing on a ledge. With height that only the rangers could achieve, they jumped and did back flips to land them with their friends.

Zhane reached to his side and pulled Saba from his holster. "Now I think it's time for you to meet Saba." He said as he threw Saba up into the air. Saba headed for a rope that was holding beams that the construction crew was waiting to add on to the top of the building once they were cleared again. Saba cut the rope and the package of beams fell to the ground, smashing the remaining ooze creatures.

"Ha." Carri said, looking down at the ooze mess as Saba returned to Zhane. The rangers were excited about their victory but before anyone got a chance to say anything their powers started fading away.

"What's happening?" Ashley asked looking at her hand as her white glove disappeared.

"I'm not sure." Billy replied. This shouldn't happen, not without some sort of serious disruption to the power grid. But he didn't think anyone could get to the grid. If they did it was safe to say that it would not mean anything good.

A few seconds later their powers were completely gone. Rocky was the first to speak. "Come on guys; let's get back to the Command Center."

They teleported back and the site they found upon arrival was not a pretty one. The Command Center was trashed, but that wasn't even the worst part of it as Carri was the first to spot Zordon's broken tub. "Zordon!" she exclaimed as she ran over toward their mentor.

"What happened?" Rocky asked as he stepped up beside his girlfriend.

"Ivan Ooze. He destroyed it all." Zordon said as he looked at the worried faces of his rangers. He had come in upset with Zordon for his imprisonment. He wanted to destroy the place. He started by blowing up consoles and anything else he could find. Then he moved to Zordon. He was smart enough to know to drain his tube before he shattered it, which would keep Ivan safe and pull Zordon's helpless body fully into the tube. When he destroyed the tube he left Zordon to age and die, hopefully while he watched his rangers die as well. At least they had survived their battle with his ooze creatures. "The zords, the powers, everything is gone. The power rangers are no more. Ivan Ooze has won."

"What about you Zordon?" Ashley asked, more concerned for their mentor than for themselves at the moment.

"Rangers Zordon won't last much longer." Alpha spoke up from behind them. "Out of that tube Zordon ages rapidly and he will eventually die."

"Alpha!" Zack exclaimed as they all turned around. Finding the little robot intact was a small piece of good news.

"How do we save him?" Zhane asked as they approached Alpha.

"I know of a way but it's too risky." Alpha said, quickly regretting his decision to speak. "Aye ai ai I shouldn't have even mentioned it."

"Alpha tell us." Rocky urged. They didn't care, they weren't going to let Zordon die or let the world end. "Whatever it is we'll do it. We're the power rangers."

"I can teleport you to Phaedos." Alpha finally decided to reply. "There you can go after the great power. But no one who has ever tried to get it before has survived."

"We can do this." Rocky spoke. There was confidence in his voice but he was still nervous. He hoped he was right and that they wouldn't die trying.

"Alright rangers I just need to"

The viewing globe cut on, stopping Alpha short. The faces of two teenagers appeared and Carri stepped up to the images. "Katherine." She spoke in a whisper.

The other rangers approached as Billy and Zack exchanged a look. They had finally realized the truth after all these years. The Kat that was Carri's cousin was the same Kat that arrived with Tommy from the future three years ago. The same Kat that gave up her life for theirs. Alpha had warned them that if they died their younger selves would perish too.

"I hope we've given you enough time to get here to see this." Tommy's image spoke quickly.

"Hopefully this message is being watched by the same team we left." Kat said as she quickly launched into what they needed to say. "Myself, Tommy, Rocky, Carri and Adam."

"If that's not the team, then we really messed something up." Tommy said. He couldn't help but smile figuring they would probably give him a hard time for messing everything up.

"Anyway on November eighth"

"Carri that's the day after tomorrow." Tommy joked interrupting Kat. He couldn't help the jab.

Kat smiled on the video as Carri huffed. "I don't appreciate being made fun of by someone I don't know."

"He just saved us the trouble of pointing it out to you." Zack said as the pink ranger immediately shot him a look.

"Anyway on the eighth at around one thirty in the afternoon, a bright light will appear in C hall, one that sucks us both into the past." Kat continued on.

"You guys have to figure out how to stop this from happening." Tommy spoke quickly.

"Hopefully if we can stop it from ever opening that will correct the damage to the timeline and things will go back to normal." Kat said with a smile.

"Good luck." Tommy finished as the viewing globe went black again.

"That was my cousin." Carri spoke softly as the image disappeared. She couldn't believe it; she didn't understand how it could all happen.

"We knew her." Billy said as he placed what he hoped was a comforting hand on her shoulder. "She and Tommy sacrificed their lives for us."

"They had been warned that if they died while in the past their younger selves would die with them. That must have been the force that killed the Kat you knew." Zack explained. He couldn't believe that after all this time Carri's cousin and the girl that saved them were one in the same.

Billy's hand fell off her shoulder as Carri nodded slowly while Rocky came up to her and took her hands in his. "I know you want to save your cousin, and we will, but we have to save Zordon and stop Ivan first."

"Right." Carri agreed. She had two days to save Kat. Right now all her focus had to be on saving the world. Otherwise saving Kat wouldn't matter.

"Rangers form a circle and I will teleport you." Alpha said. He waited until the rangers were in a circle holding hands before he teleported them to Phaedos. "May the power protect you." He said as they were gone.

November 8, 1996

The rangers opened their eyes and let out a sigh of relief. Zordon's tube was intact and their mentor safely inside and the Command Center was up and running as well. "We thought you were." Carri started but stopped, she couldn't finish her sentence.

Zordon smiled down at his pink ranger. "It is good to see you again too rangers."

The Ninja rangers were grinning and ready to celebrate when Alpha interrupted them. "We still have one more thing to deal with today, and soon." He reminded them.

"Right." Billy said as he turned his attention toward Alpha. "We may be able to stop the black hole from opening if we know how it is caused."

Ashley looked at him curiously. "How do we do that?"

Billy walked over toward the console before turning to speak to his team mates. "If I record the cause of the black hole and send one of you back in time to tell Tommy and Kat, you can relay our information on their tape and send it back to our future selves on November sixth." He quickly explained. It was their best shot. There was no way to figure out what caused it and stop it when they didn't even know where to begin. Besides they didn't have much time. Instead they would have to find the source and alert themselves with enough advance time to fix the problem.

"I'll go back in time." Carri quickly volunteered. This was her cousin; the one she thought was lost to her forever. She'd love to go see her again, even if this was a different Kat form a different time than the one she knew.

"I don't think we should send anyone back that Tommy and Kat might recognize." Billy said as he thought about it. He was trying to come up with a way of keeping the timeline as close to normal as possible. "I think it might mess things up even more."

"I'll go." Ashley spoke up. It would be between her and Zhane if they were looking for someone the rangers hadn't mentioned knowing. Zhane had been through enough. It was her turn to go on an adventure.

"But Ashley," Zhane started to protest. He had feelings for her. He wasn't sure what to make of them but they were keeping him from wanting to send her away to possible danger by herself.

"No I want to do it." Ashley said giving him a smile. She couldn't help but wonder why the protest. Maybe he was finally starting to notice her. "What do you say Billy?"

"They didn't mention knowing you." Billy pointed out what they had already deducted from the video. "I'd say it's a good idea."

Ashley gave him a quick nod. "Just tell me when."

"The commotion should be occurring shortly. I will teleport you to the school and scan the occurrence as soon as it starts. Once I have the details I will send you the information and you can head back." Billy explained. Hopefully this would work and whatever disaster was made of their time line would be corrected when this was all said and done. They came from a world with five rangers. Five rangers with very different uniforms from their own. Something was horribly wrong.

"I'm ready." Ashley said as she moved off to the side. She gave everyone a quick smile as she prepared to be teleported. "Just don't party too hard at the Power Rangers thank you party without me."

Zhane nodded and smiled at her. He didn't want her to go but she had to. "Be careful Ashley."

"And may the power protect you." Zordon added as she disappeared in a flash of yellow light.

Ashley found herself in the school seconds later. She quickly went to the spot of the disturbance. Five minutes later a bright light appeared. It wasn't long after that when a piece of paper was teleported into her hands. She took one glance at the paper before heading through the light.

November 8, 1993

Ashley found herself falling in behind Kat and Tommy just as they were discussing their situation. "I don't think we can." Kat said as she grabbed Tommy's arm before he could call on his zeonizer. Tommy gave her a sharp look and she elaborated. "This looks like the past. What if we help them and mess up our future?"

"What if we have already ruined the future just by being here?" Tommy questioned as Kat loosened her grip. "What if our friends die because of us? We can't let that happen."

Kat thought about it for a moment. She didn't know how their simply being there could change the past. But what if Tommy was right? "Alright." She finally spoke. If he was right they couldn't risk it.

Tommy nodded and stood Kat was right behind him. "It's"

But before he could finish Ashley grabbed them both and yanked them down. "You can't morph! If you help them you're placing the timeline at a huge risk." Ashley said. She noticed the look she was getting from Tommy and she continued. "Just watch. They'll save themselves."

Kat and Tommy were hesitant. They didn't know this girl, what did she know about the rangers? But what if she was right? With no definite answers, they elected to watch for the moment. They could always jump in for the rescue if they needed to.

The red ranger found himself getting grabbed by the monster of the week. He was tougher than any of Rita's previous creations and that had him worried. "I won't let you win!" Jason promised as the monster tried to move in for the kill.

"Power axe!" Zack yelled from off in the distance as he ran toward his friend. "I'm coming Jase!"

"Oh no you're not." The monster growled, watching as the black ranger leaped toward him. He used his antenna to shoot the ranger down midair.

Kim caught the situation out of the corner of her eye. She knocked a putty out of the way and called for her power bow. Quickly she maneuvered in and shot the monster, who released Jason. While the monster was distracted Jason and Zack fired their weapons first on him, and then turned to fire at the putties. They took a few out and Trini and Billy took care of the rest of them.

The putties disappeared and the rangers grouped together. "Let's show this guy our firepower." Jason said as he gripped his power sword.

One by one the rangers stacked their weapons on each other. When the formation was complete they fired, taking the monster down. Rita was never one to take defeat easily, and as usual the monster grew to an enormous size.

"I don't think we're finished with him just yet." Trini said as they all took a step back and watched him grow.

Jason gave a nod as he shifted into position. "We need Dinozord power now!" The Dino Megazord was quickly formed and it wasn't long before the monster was brought down for good.

Tommy turned to face Ashley. "Who are you?" he questioned. This girl obviously knew who they were and that made him uncomfortable. He didn't like the idea that someone on the outside might know more than they should about the rangers.

"I'm a power ranger." Ashley said, watching as they looked at her skeptically. "From the future." She added as though that was supposed to clear everything up.

"That can't be." Kat said, not buying her explanation for one second. They were the rangers from the future and they still didn't know her. "We're from the future."

Ashley looked at them and smiled. She supposed they would be confused if they named the team and she wasn't on it. "Here's what happened. You guys came to the past on accident." She started as she looked on the printout from Billy to get the official word. "Apparently you guys fell through a black hole that was caused by a witch on another planet. She cast a spell; it somehow bounced off of a satellite or something and was reflected back on Earth as a black hole."

"So it wasn't from King Mondo?" Tommy asked. He thought for certain that it was their nemesis trying to get rid of them that sent them back. Although what good it would have done he doesn't know since they obviously changed the future.

"King who?" Ashley questioned looking at them both curiously.

Kat cocked her head and gave her an odd look. "King Mondo." She replied simply as she noticed Ashley's blank stare. "Aren't you a ranger?"

"Maybe I should tell you what happened." Ashley said. It was obvious that she came from a completely different future than the one they left. "A few days from today you guys were killed, killing your younger selves in the process which severely altered the timeline." She said, pausing as she noticed the horrified expressions on their faces.

"I'm the yellow ranger." Ashley continued on. They had to hear it all so at least they would know why they had to listen to her. "Carri is pink, Rocky is red, Zack is black, Billy is blue and Zhane is white. We're fighting against… well I guess now that Ivan Ooze is gone Rita and Zedd will be back in the picture."

"What are we supposed to do?" Tommy asked with a sigh. He couldn't believe things had gotten messed up so bad. Not only had they managed to get themselves killed but their team isn't the Zeo team they left and Ivan Ooze was just in the picture.

"You guys made a tape explaining the situation." Ashley spoke quickly. "We need to recreate that tape and add in what I know. Hopefully the others can fix everything."

"Then what?" Kat asked. They couldn't exactly go home to live with their families. Maybe Zordon could help them find something to do until this situation was resolved.

Ashley frowned. She hadn't really thought this far ahead. But there wasn't much they could do. "I guess we go into hiding for the next three years so we don't terribly alter the timeline."

Tommy sighed. He didn't like the idea of going into hiding. There was so much good they could do here. "I hate running and hiding like this." He said pausing briefly. "But the timeline we left and the one you left are so different, I suppose we don't have a choice."

Ashley smiled and nodded before rushing them off. It was time to fix the future.

November 6, 1996

"I don't understand much." The yellow ranger complained as she sunk down to the table. "In fact I don't understand anything where math is concerned." Carri let out a groan as she put her head to the table with a thud. She hated calculus and she wanted this semester to be over with.

Billy smiled at her. "I'll tutor you." The blue ranger volunteered. He had tutored her in math the year before. She was a good student but math was not one of her strong points. She had sung his praises when she pulled an A for her final grade.

The red ranger put his hand on his girlfriends back. "Good since we all know I can't." Rocky said with a smile.

Carri sat up and turned toward him, grinning wickedly. "At least you admit it, you're stupid."

Rocky made a face as he playfully punched her on the shoulder. "Abuse!" she exclaimed as he smiled and shook his head. She made a face and turned toward the others. "You guys saw that right?"

The white ranger chuckled. "I got you covered." Tommy replied. Rocky hardly touched her, and besides he'd seen her take worse beatings than that from putties and stand back up. But it was still fun to chime in. "They'll haul him off this time."

Kat giggled as she looked between her cousin and her cousin's boyfriend. "You'll be going to jail for a long time." She said giving Rocky a smile.

The black ranger and the final member of the team walked into the Youth Center to join his friends. "Hey guys what's up?" Adam asked as he sat down at the table.

"Rocky's going to jail for abuse." Billy quickly filled him in.

Adam sighed and shook his head toward his best friend. "I told you that you've got to be nicer to girls than that."

"Well you know." Rocky said with a shrug as he put an arm around Carri and pulled her close to him.

"Carri's full of stories you know." Tommy said as he continued to draw out the subject for the sole purpose of teasing his friend. "I think he should've gone to jail a long time ago but I've never seen what he does until now, I've only heard what Carri's said."

"Carri." Rocky said scolding as his girlfriend looked up at him, grinning mischievously. "Have you telling everybody what we do at night?" Rocky joked. The rest of the rangers were the only people Rocky would even think about joking like that around.

Carri had a wicked look on her face as she turned toward the others. "Only to Tommy." She said with a grin. Although what they were or were not doing wasn't something she talked about with any of the other rangers but she had no problems joking about it. "He needed some ideas." She added, making eye contact with her cousin and giving her a wink.

Kat's cheeks immediately turned a bright shade of pink. Even though she and Tommy had been going out for a few months now, she was quite embarrassed at what her cousin was insinuating that they were doing. Tommy simply smiled and shook his head as he noticed his girlfriend's reaction. He should have known he would have opened himself up for something.

"You guys are." Adam started to speak but was cut off by the sounds of their communicators.

The six seemingly lazy teens immediately jumped up ready for action, hustling into a remote spot so that they could answer their page. "What is it Zordon?" Tommy asked once he knew they were secure.

"Rangers you must teleport to the downtown construction site immediately." Zordon spoke quickly. The world was in trouble, the rangers needed to move swiftly. He hoped his team was ready for what they were about to face. "A capsule has been open which houses the intergalactically feared Ivan Ooze. You must close that capsule. If he is freed, the world will be in grave danger."

"We're on it Zordon." Tommy said. With that the rangers teleported off to downtown Angel Grove.

* * *

A group of powerless rangers found themselves teleporting to the Command Center after what they had thought was a victory. But once they arrived they quickly realized that they lost more than just their morphing abilities.

"Zordon!" Kat exclaimed as she spotted their mentor's crushed tube. The rangers ran to him and Zordon spoke.

"Ivan Ooze. He destroyed it all." Zordon said as he looked at the worried faces of his rangers. He had come in upset with Zordon for his imprisonment. He wanted to destroy the place. He started by blowing up consoles and anything else he could find. Then he moved to Zordon. He was smart enough to know to drain his tube before he shattered it, which would keep Ivan safe and pull Zordon's helpless body fully into the tube. When he destroyed the tube he left Zordon to age and die, hopefully while he watched his rangers die as well. At least they had survived their battle with his ooze creatures. "The zords, the powers, everything is gone. The power rangers are no more. Ivan Ooze has won."

"What about you Zordon?" Carri asked. They would figure out a way to save the world from Ivan, she couldn't, she wouldn't doubt that. She was more worried about how to help Zordon.

"Rangers Zordon won't last much longer." Alpha spoke up from behind them. "Out of that tube Zordon ages rapidly and he will eventually die."

"Alpha." Adam stated with a hint of excitement in his voice as they all turned around. Finding the little robot intact was a small piece of good news.

"How do we save him?" Tommy asked as they approached Alpha. Zordon had done so much for him; he'd do everything he could to save him.

"I know of a way but it's too risky." Alpha said, quickly regretting his decision to speak. "Aye ai ai I shouldn't have even mentioned it."

"Alpha tell us." Rocky urged. They didn't care, they weren't going to let Zordon die or let the world end. "Whatever it is we'll do it."

"I can teleport you to Phaedos." Alpha finally decided to reply. "There you can go after the great power. But no one who has ever tried to get it before has survived."

"But we're different." Tommy was quick to point out. He had to get Alpha to send them, especially if it was their only way. "Powers or no powers, we're still the power rangers. And we have to save Zordon and the world."

"Alright rangers I just need to"

The viewing globe cut on, stopping Alpha short. The faces of two teenagers appeared and the rangers found themselves looking oddly at the images. "What in the world." Kat spoke softly as she stared at what appeared to be herself.

"I hope we've given you enough time to get here to see this." Tommy's image spoke quickly.

"Hopefully this message is being watched by the same team we left." Kat said as she quickly launched into what they needed to say. "Myself, Tommy, Rocky, Carri and Adam."

"If that's not the team, then we really messed something up." Tommy said. He couldn't help but smile figuring they would probably give him a hard time for messing everything up.

"Anyway on November eighth"

"Carri that's the day after tomorrow." Tommy joked interrupting Kat. He couldn't help the jab.

Kat smiled on the video as Carri snapped her head toward the team's leader. "Tommy Oliver!" she exclaimed.

"I said that?" he questioned with a grin, not surprised at all. His amusement faded when she crossed her arms and tapped her foot, shooting him a looking that was quite intimidating. As Kat spoke again Carri turned her head back toward the video. Once her eyes were off of him, Tommy couldn't help but smile.

"Anyway on the eighth at around one thirty in the afternoon, a bright light will appear in C hall, one that sucks us both into the past." Kat continued on.

"You guys have to figure out how to stop this from happening." Tommy spoke quickly.

"And that's where I come in." Another female spoke as she wormed her way onto the screen. Carri was the only one that recognized the girl, and that was because she had gym with Ashley. "It started with a spell cast by a witch on Sargos. The spell accidentally bounced off of a satellite in sector thirty-two and was reflected back on Earth as a black hole in the bright light we saw. And by the way, I'm Ashley. Hopefully you guys don't recognize me."

"If you guys can stop the black hole from ever opening that will hopefully correct the damage to the timeline and things will go back to normal." Kat said with a smile.

"Good luck." Tommy finished as the viewing globe went black again.

"I know how to fix the problem." Billy spoke quickly as ideas flooded in.

"Great. Just hang on to those thoughts for the next two days." Rocky said with a smile. He would admit to being a bit curious. He wondered what was going on. The team was obviously different as Billy wasn't on it. When they fixed this, what kind of world would they be in? He looked at Carri and smiled. He hoped some things would still be the same.

"Right." Tommy agreed. Although he was curious as well, he wanted to figure out exactly what was going on but he didn't know much about the mechanics of time travel. But now was not the time to think about it. "We have a bigger task at hand now."

"Rangers form a circle and I will teleport you." Alpha said. He waited until the rangers were in a circle holding hands before he teleported them to Phaedos. "May the power protect you." He said as they were gone.

November 8, 1996

The rangers opened their eyes and let out a sigh of relief. Zordon's tube was intact and their mentor safely inside and the Command Center was up and running as well. "We thought you were." Kat stopped, unable to say the word.

Zordon smiled down at his pink ranger. "It is good to see you again too rangers."

The Ninja Rangers looked satisfied that the world was saved again. It wasn't until Billy glanced down at his watch that they shifted back into ranger mode. "We don't have much time." Billy said as he went back through his idea to fix their timeline. Billy was the first to shift back into action and the others followed suit.

"We need the Ninja Falcon Megazord now!" Billy called out. The zords flew out of their hiding places and started to transform, the rangers hurrying into their cockpits. As soon as the Megazord was complete, Billy headed for outer space.

"Ok Billy I'm all up for saving the timeline but how is this going to help?" Adam asked. The blue ranger hadn't said two words of what his plan was and now they were all in the Megazord shooting through galaxies.

"We've got to stop the witch." Billy replied. They only had a few minutes to spare. If they got there in time they could keep her from casting the spell and keep the timeline accident from happening.

"Let's do it." Tommy said, giving Billy a nod. He trusted the blue ranger. Whatever he had in mind, he was going to go with it.

The Megazord moved at amazing speeds and arrived at Sargos at what Billy hoped was just enough time. Billy scanned the planet and found a high concentration of magical activity in one spot. He programmed the Megazord to set down in that area. As the zord landed on the surface, they startled the witch who was in the middle casting the spell. With a slip of a tongue the witch had spoken an entirely new incantation, one that caused herself to implode.

The rangers watched the quick burst of energy as the witch disappeared. They hadn't come to kill her but perhaps it was for the best as it would keep her from ever casting that spell. Carri glanced over at the other rangers and shrugged. "She's gone so we'll call it a win. And all we had to do was show up."

Tommy had a response to Carri's comment but he forgot all about it as a blinding light surrounded the Megazord. The rangers had to shield their eyes. They had no idea what was going on until…

It was a normal day at Angel Grove High School. And just like any other normal day between fifth and sixth period, Adam and Carri found themselves walking together toward their next class.

Carri was busy working on a cherry blow pop, trying to get to the gum before class started so that she could chew it while the teacher wasn't looking. She bit off some of the candy before turning toward Adam. "It's been a long day. And if I get one more paper assigned I swear I'm gonna kill somebody." She said the agitation clear in her voice as she used her blow pop to point randomly for effect.

Adam laughed. He knew the feeling well. It was that time of year. The end of the second quarter which was the end of the first semester were coming up soon and lots of teachers were giving huge assignments to be completed before Christmas break that would go toward their semester grades. But that still didn't excuse killing. "There's a law against that you know."

Carri rolled her eyes. "This is America. We have freedoms. You should have paid better attention in civics, there's a whole list of rights granted to us." Just because he was right and there was a law against killing someone didn't mean she wasn't going to try to make herself sound right.

"Yeah like the right to remain silent, the right to an attorney, and the right to a fair trial." Adam replied smiling at her. She would try her hardest to be right but sometimes there was no way to spin something. "Those are the rights you get for killing someone."

The duo turned a corner and Carri sighed. "Whatever. I'm just saying, if I get anymore papers I'm gonna… hey guys!" she stopped short and greeted Kat and Tommy with a wave of her hand.

"Hey." Tommy called back, grinning at Adam who looked like he was in the middle of an interesting conversation. He couldn't help but wonder what the duo was talking about.

Kat lifted her hand to wave back as she and Tommy approached the duo. Adam greeted them as they all stood outside the door to Kat's sixth period class. "Today has been rather boring." Kat said as she glanced at the other rangers. Not that boring was bad, it was just different.

Carri nodded her head in agreement as she bit off another chunk of the candy. "Boring can be good though." She said. Not that she didn't like a good Cog trashing but some days Mondo was harder on them than others and she liked the peace and quiet every once in a while.

"Yeah I like boring." Years as a ranger had taught Adam to appreciate the boring days.

The minute bell rang and Tommy looked at his two friends. "Sounds like things are about to get exciting for you two."

Carri and Adam looked at each other. Carri quickly yanked the gum off of the stick and tossed it in the trash. "Time for a mad dash." She said as she and Adam started off. Adam said goodbye and she added a "later" as they ran down the hallway.

Tommy and Kat couldn't help but laugh at their two friends. They said their goodbyes and Kat headed into her classroom and Tommy into his next door. They both went in and sat down, continuing on with their rather boring day.


	5. Vampires

**Disclaimer: **The rangers are Disney's. Buffy and friends belong to Joss Whedon. Everyone else is mine.  
**Author's Notes:** This is a crossover chapter between Buffy and the Power Rangers. It takes place during season one of Buffy. I tried to explain all things BTVS in this fic, but if you have any unanswered Buffy questions feel freel to message me. This story was originally published as a single story on my page. Hope you guys enjoy the upgrade. As always reviews are appreciated.  
Quick timeline note. Between "The Butterfly Effect" and "Vampires" the following Zeo episodes take place in this order: the series of four episodes involving David, "It Came From Angel Grove", "Bulk Fiction", "There's No Business Like Snow Business" (I moved this down some to make it make sense in my series – this would take place right at the start of December), "Game of Honor", "The Power of Gold", and "A Small Problem". I know that's a lot of episodes but this takes place the Friday before Christmas break and the last Ranger Scrolls chapter took place at the beginning of November.  
Also just to note, in my storyline the following episodes didn't happen: "Trust In Me", "A Song Sung Yellow", "A Season To Remember". They don't fit with my AU so I am going to pretend they never happened. If you are confused at all or have any questions feel free to message me.

Ranger Scrolls  
"Vampires"

Much like every day, a group of friends found themselves hanging out in the library waiting for class to begin. For once, it was quiet and they did not have much to talk about, except for normal topics of conversation. And Willow Rosenberg was going to take advantage of taking about normal stuff.

"What time tomorrow are you leaving?" Willow asked as she turned toward her best friend.

Buffy Summers sighed. "I leave for that little known boring town right after school." She didn't want to go to Angel Grove. Her mother was dragging her down there to see some of her extended family. Spending her Christmas break down there without her friends to keep her occupied was not her idea of a good time.

"I had a friend who went to Angel Grove two or three years ago." Xander Harris piped up. He didn't remember too many details about his friend's trip but one thing did stand out. "He swears he saw a giant gold monkey with wings and a walking skeleton."

Buffy couldn't help but snort. "Seriously?" she questioned, curious as to what kind of psychedelic drugs Xander's friend had been using. "A gold monkey with wings and a walking skeleton? Either it was Halloween or your friend is crazy."

"Gold monkeys with wings and skeletons?" Rupert Giles questioned with a smile on his face. Those did not seem like the kind of things that were in existence. If they were, it was surely something he would know about. "I find that funny. If there were such a thing, we would have them right here in Sunnydale. After all, we are on top of the hellmouth."

"That's right." Buffy replied, glancing over at her watcher. Fortunately, they didn't have those kinds of things, only vampires. Vampires were more than enough for her to want to worry about. "But since that stuff doesn't exist we don't have to worry about it."

After a moment of silence, Willow switched back to the original topic. "Even though there won't be much action I think you'll enjoy Angel Grove." She said with a smile. She would love to go somewhere and celebrate a big family Christmas.

Buffy made a face. "I hope your right." She said with a sigh. She doubted it but she would try to be optimistic.

The bell rang and Giles looked at the teens who were still lounging. "I believe that's your cue to get to class."

"Class. Right." Xander said as the group slowly stood. None of them were too anxious to go learn. "Those rooms with the books and the desks. Gotcha." He waited until Buffy and Willow were ready and the trio slowly marched out of the library.

* * *

The next morning a young brunette found herself being awakened once again by the sounds of soft music. She turned around and for the first time that morning, she actually focused on the source of the disturbance. Seeing the three big red numbers reading six five five, she swore loudly and jumped up, running into the shower.

She was going to be late for school. This was not the first time she had overslept, but it was the first time that Kat was not home to wake her up. Kat had gone with her parents to a family reunion. This particular reunion involved her aunt's side of the family. A side she hardly knew and didn't really care to spend her Christmas vacation visiting.

Originally, the plan was to spend Christmas alone. She tried to get her family to come to Angel Grove but her parents and her brother were going to spend the holiday in Europe. They wanted her to go with them but she had declined. Mostly because experience taught her how this trip was going to go. Her father would spend some time with the family but would still be working while on vacation. Her mother would want to drink and go to high-end parties and work on being the socialite she was trying to become. Her brother would spend quality time with her until the first pretty woman walked by then it would be over. Leaving her alone for the most part in an unfamiliar country.

Therefore, she decided to stay home, where at least she could be alone with friends or the ones in town as Kat was gone, Adam was in Colorado with his family and Tommy was going to leave with David. However, as soon as Ms. DeSantos had heard that her eldest son's girlfriend was spending Christmas alone, she had invited her to join them. In the end, everything worked out.

Carri sighed as she jumped out of the shower, drying off as quickly as possible. She threw some clothes on and ran downstairs, scooping up her backpack and heading out the door without breakfast, locking the house up behind her. She ran as fast as she could, but once she got to the main street she realized it was hopeless. She was going to be late so she might as well not kill herself trying to get there.

"Damn." She muttered to herself. She would have been much better off if she had gotten around to getting one of those parking stickers for the high school lot.

Just as she had accepted the fact that she was going to be late, a longhaired teen in a black jeep pulled up beside her. "Need a lift?" Tommy asked as he stopped the car. Kat had suggested he take the long way to school that morning saying that he might find her cousin straggling. Kat had been right.

"Thank you Tommy." Carri said as she threw her backpack in the back of the jeep. She climbed into the front of the car and grinned at the driver. "You're a lifesaver."

"Did someone ignore her alarm?" Tommy asked with a grin as she buckled her seatbelt and he started to drive off.

"No of course not." Carri said as Tommy laughed and she simply shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe but you were here to cover for me. I owe you one."

"No problem." Tommy replied. It wasn't as if this was the first morning he had to drive her to school. Kat usually called on him when they were in a crunch. Probably because he was the only ranger who left for school as late as the girls did. "I'm sure we'll find a way for you to save me and we'll call it even."

"Yep. I'll have to rescue the red ranger eventually." Carri said with a grin causing Tommy to laugh again. The laughter died down and Carri changed the subject. "So when are you and David leaving?"

"Right after school." Tommy replied. It was going to be nice to get away for the holidays with his brother.

"Have fun." Carri said. She could not have mean that statement any more. Tommy needed to have fun. This past month had been hard on him. His girlfriend had sent him a letter, and in that letter she broke up with him. Carri didn't know his ex-girlfriend and didn't know the true circumstances so she was going to try not to judge but at the same time it upset her seeing how much it had devastated Tommy. Two weeks later and he was still pretty shaken up about it, although he was much better since he got back from his weekend at Angel Grove Pines Ski Resort.

"I will." Tommy replied. At least he intended on trying to have fun. "If I can keep my mind off of Angel Grove."

Carri gave him a look as she shook her head. "Why in the world would your mind be on Angel Grove?" She hoped the answer didn't have anything to do with his ex-girlfriend.

"I was the last one to make plans to leave. I feel like I'm abandoning you and Rocky." Tommy replied. It had been nipping at him ever since he had decided to go. It would be good to get away with David for a while. However, at the same time he felt like he was abandoning the team and his duty as its leader. "What if Mondo attacks full force while I'm not here?"

Carri sighed. That was Tommy, always thinking about the fight for Earth. "You worry about saving the world too much. This is what makes you a great leader." There was no questioning that Tommy was made to lead the team. However, he had to go relax for a while. She and Rocky would be fine. If not she was sure they would let him know, quickly. "Go and have fun. Rocky and I can keep the world from collapsing. Plus we have that mysterious ranger running around. And if something serious happens I promise you'll be the first one I holler at."

"Fine I will." Tommy said as he glanced over at her. She was right but it was still hard to go. "But if I get back and Angel Grove isn't here, I'm placing full blame on you." He joked as he pulled into the school's parking lot.

Carri snorted as Tommy pulled in to a parking spot. "For the record, if you get back and Angel Grove isn't here I'll go into hiding before I have to face you." Tommy was nice and she could tell that he had a sensitive side but at the same time he was a damn good fighter and when he was in ranger mode, he was not one she wanted to come up against. If he went after her, morphed or not, he would wipe the floor with her.

"Why?" Tommy asked as they hopped out of the jeep and grabbed their stuff from the back. "Do I scare you?" He teased as they started walking toward the building.

Carri held up her hand and lifted up her fingers as she counted things off. "You have a black belt. You are the leader. This means you have way cooler toys than what I get to play with. You could probably fry my ass without even thinking about it." She paused as he grinned at her. "So in a word, yes."

"Good." Tommy said with a smile as they reached the door. Tommy grabbed it before Carri could get to it and he held it open for her. "I see I'm doing my job."

Carri simply rolled her eyes as she headed into the building, Tommy chuckling as he followed her in. The door shut behind them and they went off to start on their last school day before Christmas.

* * *

Night had fallen on Angel Grove and all of the high school students were making their way into the Youth Center. Ernie had turned the Youth Center into a nightclub for the night as sort of a Christmas break celebration. He had managed to get a few of the hot local acts to perform. It was supposed to be a huge party and everyone was going to be there.

Rocky squeezed his girlfriend's hand as he pointed across the crowded room. "There's a table over there." He said as he led her through the teens and toward their destination.

The duo sat down at the table across from each other. Carri looked around and grinned. "This looks so much better at night, with the tables and the dance floor out there instead of sparring mats." She teased.

Rocky smiled at her. "What's wrong with the sparring mats?" he asked, trying his hardest to sound offended by her statement.

"They're such a waste of space." Carri said as she rolled her eyes. "I mean it's not like anybody actually uses them."

Rocky raised an eyebrow and thought for a moment before deciding to play along. "Good point. Especially not me, Adam or Tommy." He spoke with a hint of sarcasm.

"Oh I've never seen you guys out there." She replied, emphasis on the never. Rocky chuckled and she smiled. She was about to comment when she saw someone she didn't know enter the Youth Center. She followed her as she took a seat at a table near them.

Rocky hardly noticed what his girlfriend was looking at. He was too busy focusing on the music. "This band has potential." He commented. He would have to look them up sometime, see where else they played.

"Yeah." Carri replied, although she really was not paying any attention to the band at all. She was too focused on figuring out whom the new girl was and if she had ever seen her at school.

"But they're not as good as some of the other acts that have been here. Like Tanya." Rocky continued on his conversation about the band. However, it was becoming obvious that Carri was not really paying him any attention when she agreed with him again without looking at him. "Ok I give. Where are you tonight?"

Carri snapped back in to focus on Rocky. "Just trying to figure out who she is." She replied, giving a nod in the girl's direction. If they went to school together, Carri had never seen her before.

Rocky turned to get a good look at the girl who Carri was referencing but his girlfriend reached across the table and hit him. "What was that for?" Rocky asked. He didn't get girls sometimes. She acts as she wants him to look but when he does look, she hits him.

"Don't stare. That's rude." Carri said pointedly before turning back to look at the strange girl.

Rocky could not help but roll his eyes. "Isn't that what you're doing?" He didn't get how staring is rude did not apply to both of them.

Carri didn't miss the eye roll and she gave him a look. "I'm not staring with the intent of staring." She quickly pointed out. "What's the scoop on her?"

"Why would I know?" Rocky asked looking like a deer caught in the headlights. Was she asking because he probably knew more people in school than her? On the other hand, was she asking because she wanted to know if he was interested in her?

"You must have heard something from your jock friends in your health class." Carri pointed out. The guys he went to class with were some of the varsity football players and they pointed out every girl in school.

"First of all they're not exactly my friends, more like acquaintances." He had to be stuck in a class the guys on the team who had been knocked around one too many times. Although he talked to them in class because he had to, they were loud and rude and not a group he liked to associate with. "And second, have you ever heard them talk about girls? Most of the time its 'have you seen the new girl with nice legs?' or worse." The first time they saw Carri they said something that although complementary it was not something you said about a woman and he had to tell them not to talk about his girlfriend like that. He never told her, he was afraid she would haul off and hit one of them.

"She must be vacationing." Carri said. If the jocks hadn't said anything about her, she doubted she went to school with them. She couldn't imagine that this girl would not get their attention. "I bet she doesn't know anybody here. Let's go introduce ourselves."

With that, Carri stood and headed over to the new girl's table with Rocky close behind her. Carri tapped the girl on the shoulder and much to Carri's surprise she turned around and took a defensive stance. She didn't think she had surprised her that much. However, when the girl saw that there was nothing to be afraid of she relaxed.

"Hi. I'm Carri and this is Rocky." She said quickly doing introductions. Rocky smiled and gave her a quick wave before Carri continued. "We saw you sitting by yourself so we thought we'd come introduce ourselves."

"Nice meeting you. I'm Buffy." She replied, smiling at both of them. She was glad she came out here. She had seen the fliers for it around town when she got there. Her mother had wanted her to stay with the family but she begged to go out and hang out with people her own age. Her mother obliged and she was off to try to find someone under thirty to hang out with some while she was stuck in town. "You guys wanna join me?"

"Sure." Carri said as she sat, with Rocky coming around and taking a seat next to his girlfriend. Rocky put an arm on Carri's chair as Carri started to pry. "You must be new here."

"Temporarily new." Buffy somewhat confirmed Carri's statement. Upon seeing Carri's confusion Buffy continued. "I'll be leaving after the break. I am just visiting my relatives here. My older relatives. You guys are the first ones I've met here who haven't broken out of their twenties."

Rocky couldn't help but laugh. He could see why Buffy came running out to the Youth Center that night. "Neither one of us have even hit our twenties." He assured her. "We're both seniors at Angel Grove High."

"Still older. But I can deal." Buffy said with a smile. High school friends were high school friends. "I'm a sophomore at Sunnydale High."

"I've heard of Sunnydale." Carri said. She knew a kid in middle school who moved from Sunnydale to Angel Grove. He always said he moved from one boring town to another. He had wanted to go to LA. Carri didn't get it. She thought they were close enough to the city, and they were still by the ocean, which was the most important part. "Is it is boring as people say it is?" Carri asked as she went back to thinking about Sunnydale.

Buffy couldn't help but think about all the vampires that she had dusted in her few short months at Sunnydale High. "Yeah, I would have to say so." She lied. Of course, vampires were the normal for her so technically it wasn't anything exciting. "What about Angel Grove? Any excitement here?"

"Nope." Carri said as she shook her head. At least there wasn't when she was younger. Therefore, it was only half a lie.

"Not much happens in Angel Grove." Rocky added. He was surprised she didn't know much about the monster attacks here. But then again that has become the norm for the citizens over the last three and a half years. The people here knew what to do when monsters attacked and they knew they could trust the rangers to save them. It was exiting for him because he was one of the ones doing all the saving.

The three of them started talking and the conversation easily flowed, only to be stopped an hour later by Carri. "Did you guys hear that?" she questioned as she looked for the source of the noise. It sounded like Cogs hiding somewhere. She hoped it wasn't Cogs. She was not in the mood.

Rocky looked curiously at her. He hadn't heard anything besides the band. They had had to speak loudly to hear each other; he couldn't imagine what she heard. "Hear what?"

"It sounded kind of like machinery." Carri said, trying her hardest to get Rocky on the same line of thought. When he started looking at her as though she was crazy she continued. "You know the sound. Like when cogs turn or something." She emphasized the word cogs and finished by smiling forcibly at him.

Buffy could not help but wonder what was going on between the duo. Figures that the first teens she would meet would be odd. Then again, her and her friends were not exactly normal. Before she could ponder any further, Rocky apparently figured out what Carri was saying as he let out an "oh!" seconds before a woman screamed.

All three of them immediately shifted, ready for action. As they turned, they could see that their concern was unnecessary. The scream came from a woman who had been unlucky enough to walk by Bulk just as he dropped something on her big toe. Carri even found out where the noise came from. It was a couple of freshmen, playing with one of those giant remote controlled dinosaurs on their table. When it walked, it sounded just like one of Mondo's Cogs.

They ignored Bulk's apologies and turned back to their own conversations. Before they could get much further, they heard more screaming. This scream was one Buffy was used to hearing. It was the scream of someone who had just discovered that things had gone very wrong. She immediately jumped up and was joined by Carri and Rocky as they went to see what was wrong with the girl who was panicking in between sobs on the dance floor.

"What happened?" Buffy asked as she caught a glimpse of a girl's lifeless body on the floor. She noticed the bite marks on the girl's neck and she shook her head. Just when it looked like she might enjoy boring Angel Grove, it was going to get her kind of interesting.

"I don't know. There was this guy and he was so cute and he asked her to dance," the girl paused as she sobbed some more. The sobbing noise stopped and she continued. "The next thing I know she's dead."

"I'll call the police." Ernie said as he finally made his way to the crime scene. He shook his head at the sight. He had opened this place for the youth in Angel Grove to get together, to participate in activities, to get involved with the community, and most of all to stay safe. Now this tragedy here tonight. It saddened him deeply.

"Police can't help." Buffy said to herself as Ernie turned to walk away. Buffy scanned the crowd just in time to see another girl about to be bitten. "You people had to follow me." She said as she hustled toward the vampire, doing a cartwheel over a table on the way over. As she landed, she kicked the vampire away from the girl. The vampire snarled and looked up at her. "I'm sorry. Did I interrupt your snack?"

"You, her," the vampire started with a shrug as he thought about how good the slayer was going to taste, "it doesn't matter to me."

"You really think you can bite me?" Buffy asked a hint of amusement in her voice. She loved the younger vampires. They were cockier and generally easy to stake. The vampire jumped up and lunged toward her. He swung at her and she ducked before knocking him over onto a wooden stool. The stool collapsed and Buffy suddenly found herself with a supply of stakes. She picked one up and before the vampire could protest, she shoved it through his heart.

Standing up she twirled the stake around in her hands. If there was one there was more. She was determined not to let them overrun this town. "Anybody else want to play?"

As soon as she opened her mouth, several other vampires showed their faces. The patrons of the Youth Center started to run screaming as Buffy went to fight. Rocky and Carri helped everyone exit the Youth Center before returning just in time to see Buffy stake another one.

"Go. I can handle this." Buffy said. She didn't know what her new friends thought they were doing. It was not the time to try to play hero, not with vampires. Too many people died that way.

Carri shook her head no as she and Rocky moved into a fighting stance. "We're not going to leave you here with these things." She said firmly. Buffy obviously knew what she was doing but that didn't matter. It was their duty to fight the forces of evil. And as far as she was concerned, vampires were evil.

"Nice gesture." Buffy said as she ducked away from one vampire. "But if you haven't noticed these guys are vampires." She finished as two more attacked her. Buffy didn't really have time to argue and it didn't really matter, as soon as the slayer was distracted the vampires went after Rocky and Carri.

"We noticed." Carri said to no one in particular as Rocky kicked one away. "Stake to the heart right?" she asked recalling her vampire movie memory bank.

"Sounds good." Rocky replied. That was the last thing he got to say to his girlfriend before the battle as the vampires quickly moved in and split them up.

Carri headed in one direction as a vampire chased her. She was trying to separate him and show him why you did not mess with the yellow ranger. Before she stopped, a second vampire tripped her. She smiled as she realized she landed right in front of a wooden chair.

She picked it up by the legs just as the first vampire leaped toward her and she hit him over the head with it, watching as it broke apart. "Stupid human, you think that will stop me?" the vampire asked.

"No." Carri said as she gripped one of the legs that was still in her hand. "But this will." She said as she jammed a chair leg into his heart. Although she had seen it once, she was still surprised when he turned to dust at her feet. She quickly got over the surprise as the other vampire approached her and she had to work to figure out how to stake him as well.

Rocky was fighting on the other side of the Youth Center, treating the vampires as if they were nothing more than stronger Cogs. He was keeping them off of himself for the moment, but he had to do something quickly. Reaching down he grabbed a pointy piece of wood off the floor.

He moved back into a fighting stance just in time for one vampire to lurch toward him with a second one not too far behind. He dodged the first vampire and staked him in the back much to that vampire's surprise. The second vampire didn't have a chance to register what was happening before he staked him as well. He grinned to himself. That would be the last time they underestimated him.

Meanwhile Buffy was taking the brunt of the attack. This didn't bother her she needed something to pound. And pounding vampires was always good. "Why is it," she started as she staked one, "that you won't give me a single week's peace without following me and giving me trouble." She finished as a vampire came around and hit her from behind. She turned quickly and blocked his attack before staking him as well.

The fight continued as more people than they had thought possible that night had been undead. The vampires were getting agitated that they had not eaten yet and one of them decided he was finished playing. They knew the slayer would be trouble the moment they saw her but they had thought the other humans would go easily but that was not the case. He was just going to have to be the first to make them dead.

He approached the female and hit her hard, knocking her in the air and across the room. She tried to land standing up on a pile of rubbish, which apparently did not work out so well for her. She collapsed to the floor and he grinned. She hurt her ankle; he could smell the sudden rush of blood to the area. Wounded prey was not as much fun but he would take it.

"Dinner time." He said, leaping through the air and landing on top of her. He grabbed her throat and extended his fangs. "This is what you get for joining forces with the slayer."

He leaned down toward her neck but before he could bite her, he collapsed on top of her in a pile of dust. "And that's what you get for trying to eat my new friends."

Buffy took a quick glance at the building. The vampires' numbers had dwindled and those who remained were taking off before they met with the sharpened end of Buffy's stake. Satisfied she turned back to her new friend. "Are you ok?" she asked as she extended a hand down to help her up.

"Peachy." Carri grumbled as she allowed Buffy to help her stand. She tried to put weight on her hurt foot but it immediately gave out and she found herself leaning into Buffy for support. She let out a sigh as she turned toward the new girl who was more than just a high school student. "Thank you for saving me."

"All in a good days work." Buffy replied with a smile as she helped Carri to the nearest still standing chair. Saving people from the undead had become part of her nightly ritual. "Let me look at that foot." Buffy said as she propped the injured ankle up.

"It's nothing, really." Carri assured her. Nothing but a throbbing, aching pain in her ass but she was not going to say that to Buffy. She was a ranger it would heal.

"This isn't nothing." Buffy said with a frown as she looked at it. "It's probably broken. Let me go get you some ice." Buffy shook her head as she stood up and headed for the kitchen.

Carri let out a sigh as Rocky grabbed a chair and moved in to sit beside her. "Are you ok?" he asked as he glanced down at her ankle. It looked awful.

"I'll be fine." She promised, brushing his concern off. "Ranger healing, remember?" When rangers got hurt it did not take them as long to heal, even if they weren't morphed at the time. One of the job benefits she supposed.

"It does look broken." Rocky pointed out. It looked, well broken seemed like an understatement but it would have to do. "That means it's going to take longer to heal."

"Maybe I can call Mondo and get him to attack so I can morph and speed up the healing process." Carri replied as she grinned at him. "I mean it's probably not too much of a stretch. He probably has some monster with some sort of corny name waiting in the wings in celebration of our first vampire battle."

Rocky laughed. He was glad that despite it all Carri was still acting like herself. "He may be good with the corny monsters but he's not the best. That would be." Rocky stopped short as Buffy returned with an ice pack.

Buffy went to put the ice on her ankle and examined it carefully. "It looks a little less swollen." She said, sounding a bit miffed. She must have been imagining things.

Carri let out a small chuckle. "That's impossible."

Buffy nodded, she knew it was her imagination. With a sigh, she stood and looked at the duo. "This is just great. The first two potential friends I've met and the vampires scare them away."

"No they didn't." Rocky assured her. Although vampires were what he thought was the stuff of legends, they were no more frightening than what they dealt with on a daily basis. "We just need an explanation."

Carri nodded in agreement. There was no way that her knowing how to kill vampires and being able to fight them fairly was normal. She watched as Buffy nodded back at her. "Fair enough." Buffy said. She hated getting people involved but she supposed it was too late now. "I'm the slayer."

Carri looked at her as though she had just said that she had two heads. "Right." She spoke slowly, resisting the urge to smirk or comment. "What exactly is a slayer?"

"This is Giles favorite part." Buffy replied before thinking about the fact that they didn't know who Giles was. That was another explanation to give. "Into every generation a slayer is born. One girl in the entire world, a Chosen One with the strength and skill to hunt the vampires and stop the spread of their evil."

Carri snickered. She noticed the ho-hum tone in Buffy's voice. She must have done this a lot. Instead of commenting on that fact, she went back to the first thing she had thought of. "Who's Giles?"

"My watcher." Buffy said. Rocky looked confused as Carri narrowed her eyes and looked at her. She could sense the smart-ass comment that was coming and before Carri got a chance to speak Buffy continued. "A slayer bonus is getting a watcher assigned to you by the watchers council. Basically he's there to guide me, train me, and, well, watch me."

"Ok fine." Rocky said. It was all a bit weird to him but then again if he figured their being power rangers would be weird to her. "So then what are all these vampires doing here? We've never seen them before."

"Probably following me." Buffy said with a sigh. They probably figured it would be swell to give her a hard time while she was away from home. She had to imagine they didn't usually hang out here if they weren't been spotted before. Which was somewhat odd to her, she always thought they were everywhere. Of course, they were full force in Sunnydale, but that was sitting on the hellmouth. "I assume the Master sent them so I couldn't enjoy my vacation."

"Who is the Master?" Rocky asked. There was apparently a lot that went on in Buffy's world. A lot that they didn't understand as she kept mentioning things that they didn't have faintest clue as to what they were about.

"He's pretty much the head vamp." Buffy said, as she looked the two of them over. She didn't know why she was telling them all of this. She was probably going to freak them out and they would never want to see her again. Plus they would know her biggest secret. Not that they would want to go telling everyone about vampires. "He's currently trapped but he's trying to escape."

Buffy waited but neither of them had any sort of response ready. She let out a sigh. She had totally freaked them out. "Listen if you guys never want to see my face again I get it."

"You're our new friend. Who saved my life. It would be rude of us to ditch you." Carri said with a grin. She could guess why Buffy thought they would want her to leave. However, if she knew their extracurricular activities, she would know that to them this is nothing.

Buffy raised an eyebrow as Rocky smiled and nodded in agreement. They actually didn't look freaked. Which was quite a surprise. "So you don't mind the slayer part?"

"Not at all." Rocky replied. He thought it was actually somewhat neat. It was like being a ranger, except she didn't have to morph to access her powers.

"In fact I was going to ask you to join us and a friend of ours at the movies tomorrow." Carri said, flashing her a smile. She hoped that was enough to reassure Buffy that they are not going to stop trying to be her friend because of her being the slayer.

"Sounds good." Buffy said with a smile. At least she didn't scare away the first two potential friends she met. Now maybe if she could deal with the vamps in town her vacation might not be too bad. She frowned as a question popped into her head. "Where exactly is the movie theater?"

Carri opened her mouth to say something but then she thought about it. "You know it would be easier for me to tell you how to get to my house and we can go from there." Her house was nearby, and even though the theater wasn't too far away, it wasn't a straight shot and she didn't want Buffy to get lost.

"Cool." Buffy said. Carri started to give her verbal directions and Buffy stopped her. She was never going to remember that in the morning. She went over, got a napkin and a pen off the counter, and handed it to Carri, who jotted them down quickly.

As Carri finished scribbling on a napkin, Ernie finally reentered the Youth Center with two police officers behind him. "What happened here?" Ernie asked, worried as he saw the three teenagers sitting in the middle of a mess. The place had gotten trashed.

"The gang of guys that hurt that girl were here and we tried to fight them but," Rocky paused and shrugged as he gestured to their surroundings, "we got thrown around but we got them to leave. Don't worry about the mess though, we'll clean up." He hated lying to Ernie and the cops but he didn't really have a choice.

"Thanks guys." Ernie said. He knew Rocky and his friends were good kids but they shouldn't have tried to go against those guys, especially when they had already killed a girl. "You shouldn't have tried to stop them though, you could have gotten killed."

"The thought never crossed our minds. We were just trying to get the creeps who did this." Buffy replied. She couldn't help but wonder what the cops were going to think about all this, what they were going to tell the public. Bodies drained of blood weren't exactly run of the mill murders.

Ernie studied the other girl carefully. "I don't think I've seen you around here before." He said aloud, although now really was not the time to think about that.

"I'm Buffy Summers." She said, giving him a smile as she introduced herself. "I'm visiting from Sunnydale."

Ernie frowned. "I'm sorry your visit had to go this way." He said as he gestured around the Youth Center. This was not going to give her fond memories of Angel Grove.

Rocky stood and leaned down, helping Carri to her feet as well. He held on to her tightly as he felt her lean into him for support. "We should probably start cleaning."

"You can start over there." One of the officers gestured to an area away from the crime scene. There wasn't much they could do about what happened in the Youth Center as far as the property damage was concerned. There were too many people and too many prints to single any evidence out. But the kids couldn't get near the body until the crime scene was processed. Besides cleaning would keep them busy and around should they needed to ask any questions.

Buffy smiled and gave the officer a slight nod as he and his partner headed for the body. They needed to start sweeping up the piles of vampire dust. At least she and Rocky did. Carri needed to go home and rest. "You shouldn't be standing on that foot." She said once the cops were gone.

"Don't worry I'll be fine." Carri said doing her best to give an everything is all right grin. Her foot hurt like hell but it was actually feeling better. Of course better was not saying much.

"Maybe you should leave." Rocky suggested as he pulled her close and grabbed her arm, rubbing his thumb on her wrist and communicator.

From Buffy's perspective, it looked like a romantic, caring gesture but Carri took it for what it meant. She would be better off going to see Billy if she wanted to be walking straight again anytime soon. "I guess you're right. I'll see you guys later." She said as she leaned up and gave Rocky a kiss on the cheek before waving goodbye to Buffy.

Buffy and Rocky watched her limp out of the Youth Center. Buffy turned her attention back to Rocky as he watched the faint yellow streak fly through the sky. "She needs to see a doctor." Buffy pointed out.

Rocky picked up one of the tables and set it back up right. "Don't worry about her. If it still looks that bad tomorrow I'll take her for x-rays." He assured her.

Buffy shook her head. "I hate getting people involved in what I do. They always get hurt." She said as she set another table back up with a loud thud. It was aggravating, she felt as though with her slayer duties she couldn't, she shouldn't have friends. If she really cared about people, she would keep them as far away from her as possible.

"We knew the risks when we stayed." Rocky replied. That may not be entirely true but they were not going to back down from a fight against evil. That was as much their job as it was Buffy's.

"That's what Xander and Willow said when we first met." Buffy replied as she paused and looked over at Rocky. "They almost got killed." She couldn't imagine Sunnydale High without Xander and Willow as friends, but they would be safer not knowing her. She let out a sigh.

Rocky heard the sigh and couldn't help but wonder what she was thinking about, but he decided not to pursue it. "That fight back there was nothing. It takes more than that to bring us down."

Buffy rolled her eyes. So he was going to try to play the tough guy act with her. "Please you wouldn't be able to handle half the monsters we faced."

Rocky laughed. He didn't mean to, but it was the first reaction that came to mind. Buffy looked at him as though he was crazy. "What was that for?" she asked. She didn't find monsters in the least bit funny.

"Just the thought of monsters in Sunnydale." He replied. He didn't know what they saw in Sunnydale but he saw monsters almost daily in Angel Grove. He didn't think monsters were any worse than vampires were. At least not when he was morphed.

"Well who knows? Seeing is how the master is trying to ruin my Christmas break, he may send a monster our way. Then you can check one out." Buffy replied. Although she seriously hoped she would not see a monster. Hopefully Rocky and Carri wouldn't try to fight it. She didn't know what she would do with it. If it didn't die by conventional means, she would have to call Giles and send the team into research mode.

"I'll be on the lookout for monsters." Rocky promised her. At least Alpha and Zordon would. And at the first sign of one, they would be on their way to fight it.

"Anyway enough about monsters." Buffy changed the subject. She was tired of slaying being the center of her universe. She wanted to talk about normal teenager things. "You know everything about me, tell me about you."

Rocky shrugged. He did not know what to tell, or what would be interesting but he figured why not. "For starters I live with my mom and six younger brothers and sisters."

"Six!" Buffy exclaimed. They both had the living at home with mom thing going on and she couldn't help but wonder if his parents were divorced too but she declined to ask. Instead, she focused on the siblings part. "I can't imagine having one sibling let alone six."

Rocky shrugged. It didn't seem like much to him. But then again they were his brothers and sisters and he had grown up with them. "They can be a handful sometimes but you get used to it."

Before Buffy could reply one of the police officers came up to her. "Could the two of you come with me? I need to ask you some questions."

Buffy and Rocky stopped what they were doing to give the officer their full attention. After coming up with a reason why Carri left, they gave a recount of their night. When they were finished answering questions they went back to cleaning and chatting until long after the police were gone. They stayed with Ernie until the Youth Center was remotely in one piece before heading home for the night.

* * *

The next morning Carri got up and got ready feeling as though she could run a marathon if she wanted. She had only given a vague explanation of how she got hurt considering it was Buffy's secret to tell and not hers. Whether or not they had any questions about her explanation she didn't know, but Billy did heal her ankle and send her on her way.

She sat down in front of her computer and double clicked the AOL icon. As she hit the connect button the doorbell rang. Curious, she bounced down the stairs and headed for the door. She was not expecting any visitors now and she was surprised to see Buffy standing on her doorstep.

"I know it's a bit early but I had to get out of that house." Buffy said as soon as they greeted each other. Her family was driving her nuts, especially her ten-year-old second cousin whose family had shown up that morning. He hadn't left her alone since. She would rather go back to being the only under twenty there.

"That's alright." Carri said with a shrug. It wasn't like she had anything better going on and she wouldn't mind the company. "Come on in."

Buffy watched as Carri took a step back. She entered the house and shut the door behind herself. "I hope I didn't interrupt anything." She hadn't completely thought it through before she came on over.

"No I was just checking my email." Carri replied with a smile. That was nothing exciting. It was rare that anyone she wanted to talk to sent her an email.

Buffy followed Carri up the stairs and toward her bedroom, watching her ankle carefully as she went. "You're walking on that much better today." She commented as they entered the bedroom.

"It wasn't as bad as it looked." Carri said as she walked into the room and sat in her desk chair. Buffy sat on the bed and Carri swiveled to face her.

"It looked broken." Buffy was quick to point out. Worse than broken, whatever that would be. "I've never seen a normal foot look like that."

Carri was quick to smile at her. Why did she have to be so attentive? Maybe it was a slayer thing. "It was much better when I woke up this morning."

Buffy made a face and Carri could tell she had something to say. However, before she spoke there was a ding from her computer. Carri swiveled back around and she was never so happy to receive an IM from her boyfriend in her life.

After Rocky said good morning, he asked if her ankle was better. Carri quickly typed a response, making sure to mention that Buffy was there with her already that morning. Carri then minimized the window and went to check her mail.

"Four messages." Buffy commented from her spot on the bed. "Impressive. That's more than I get."

"It's probably nothing important." Carri assured her as she clicked on her inbox link. Two were junk messages, one was from Kat and one was from her dad. She deleted the junk mail and ignored the one from Kat in case there were ranger references.

She opened the one from her father, which said something along the lines of the family wishes you were here and we will have to come see you soon. She couldn't help but snicker. She loved her parents but she didn't fool herself about them. She knew they wanted to see her but she also knew they wouldn't be able to tear themselves away from their lives to come visit.

"You don't live with your parents?" Buffy asked after reading the email. She supposed she shouldn't have read it. It wasn't really any of her business.

"Not since August." Carri replied. It wasn't that much of a change for her. The last few years, even when she was home she didn't see too much of her parents between everybody's schedules. "I'm from California but my family moved to New York. When my cousin came here they let me come back and live with her family."

"Sounds complicated." Buffy replied. From her tone, it sounded like there were many issues that developed over the move to New York. Carri was silent for a second and Buffy watched as she shot a quick reply.

"It is." Carri replied, flipping back over to her IM. She quickly told Rocky goodbye and logged off, turning her attention fully toward Buffy. "I love my family but there are a lot of, we'll say differences, especially between me and my mom." Differences being she is not the perky cheerleader stereotype with the football captain boyfriend, among other things.

Buffy nodded as Carri stood. She supposed nobody's family was perfect. Hers certainly was not. She got along with her parents, but they didn't get along with each other. She tried not to think about the reasons for their divorce as she stood and followed Carri downstairs. When her friend sat on the couch Buffy joined her.

"So, you must meet some interesting characters in your line of work." Carri said. She was hoping to get the topic off her family. She really didn't want to talk about her family much with the rangers; she certainly was not going to talk about them with Buffy.

"There's one that sticks out." Buffy said. She didn't know why she was going to spill like this but for some reason she felt compelled to. Besides, it was just girls gossiping over boys. "He's a good vampire. His name is Angel. And we kind of have a flirtation thing going on."

"Good vampire?" Carri repeated as if that were the most absurd thing ever. "I didn't think that was possible."

"Angel has a soul. It keeps him from killing people." Buffy replied. Sometimes she wished he was evil. Then she would just stake him and she wouldn't have mixed feelings over the fact that the slayer should not be falling for a vampire. "He's two hundred years older than me."

"Seriously?" Carri questioned and Buffy nodded. She knew vampires did not age on the outside, but still that was somewhat weird. "How old does he look?"

Buffy shrugged. "Early twenties." She said as she grinned at her. "And he's majorly hot."

Carri raised an eyebrow. She was intrigued. "I'll have to come to Sunnydale some day and meet him."

"Some night actually." Buffy was quick to correct. She would be the first to admit that when she talked about him, it was easy to forget that he was a vampire. However she had to try not to let herself forget.

"Right." Carri replied. She hadn't thought about it when she spoke but now that she did, she didn't think he would be up and going in the middle of the day. "So tell me all there is to know about Angel."

"Everything?" Buffy repeated, raising an eyebrow and giving her a curious look. Carri nodded and Buffy shrugged. "Alright but this may take a while."

"We've got time." Carri said as she moved around on the couch and made herself comfortable. Buffy then launched into a conversation about Angel, the first of many conversations that afternoon as the girls waited for the time to head out to their movie.

* * *

Later that night Carri found herself walking across the park, heading home. She had a full day that started with a gossip fest with Buffy before the two girls went to lunch. Afterwards she had shown Buffy some of the highlights of Angel Grove before they had to meet the boys for the movie, the boys being Rocky and Billy. The four of them hit up the park for a while before Buffy and Billy had to retreat for family dinners, and Rocky had to head to work.

Which left Carri all alone, but it wasn't that way for long. She departed for the DeSantos house, where she was babysitting for the night. Babysitting was not something she made a habit of, but Rocky and his mom were both working the kids adored her so she did 't mind keeping an eye on them until Rocky returned home.

She looked around the park and noticed that the moon was darkened by the clouds that night. It gave the scene in front of her a creepy feel. She didn't know why but something was nipping at her, almost as though something was wrong. She tried to shake the feeling. This was Angel Grove, she grew up here, knew the people here. She was not one to be afraid of walking in the dark and she couldn't let herself get freaked out now.

To make the situation even worse, something dropped out of nowhere to land at her feet. Carri about jumped into ranger mode before she realized it was a football. She let out a sigh of relief as she noticed five guys walking from behind the bushes.

One of them casually strolled up to her and picked the football up. "Sorry about that." He said as he stood firmly in front of her and looked her over.

"Whatever." She said rolling her eyes as she tried to push past him. He kept weaving back and forth so she couldn't get around him and it didn't take much of that behavior for her to get aggravated. "Will you move out of my way?" she asked harshly. As irritated as she was, a little alarm started going off in her head and suddenly she knew this was not going to end well.

"I'm not moving." He said as his friends moved in closer and he licked his lips. "We've been watching you walk and we've decided that we want you."

Carri was suddenly very aware of the positions of each of the guys around her. She was thinking that she could surprise one of them and get him down, but that would have to be quick as the other four would not be too far behind. If it came down to four on one, she really didn't think she stood a chance. Not unless she could morph, but last time she checked that was reserved for ranger related emergencies.

"I have a boyfriend." She spoke sharply. "Therefore I have no interest in any of you." She added. Of course, she didn't think that mattered, with it being five against one they would take her if they wanted to. She tried to push past them but one of them stuck his arms out and shoved her and she tumbled to the ground on her back. He was much stronger than he should be. That was when she first realized that they were not human. And she thought the situation couldn't get any worse.

The first one let out a low growl. "We're going to give you something much better than anything you've ever gotten from your boyfriend." He said as he jumped on top of her, fangs extended.

If the strength hadn't given them away, the vamp faces did. As the vampire leaned in toward her neck, Carri lifted up her knees and kicked him as hard as she could. He stumbled back surprised as she jumped and tried to make a run for it.

She knew all along it was futile, but at least it gave her a second to think. That second passed quickly as she got thrown from behind. She tried to pull herself to her feet there were vampires quickly jumping on top of her. She worked to try to fight them but they were too much. Stumbling back, she got a look at them. It was the first time she noticed that the one who originally approached her was missing.

He didn't stay missing long as she heard him come up from behind her. Her mind was whirling. She was determined not to be left there, drained of blood, for her friends to find in the morning. She was going to find a way out of this. Before she could fret any longer, she could hear a sixth vampire. Carri closed her eyes. Was this really how she was going to die?

It wasn't long before she realized that this new vampire had attacked the one behind her, leaving her with four vampires to fight. At least the odds were slightly better. She moved into fighting stance, wondering if this could possibly get any worse. As she did, a hole opened up out of nowhere and a small army of cogs fell to the ground.

"Shit." She swore as the Cogs fumbled around in the dark. At least they weren't coming right for her. That was one small positive.

The vampires rushed her and threw her up against a tree. The one that was taking over as lead vamp grabbed her by the neck and held her up as he snarled at her. "You will pay for all the trouble you've caused."

"I suggest you leave her alone." A voice spoke from the side. Out of the corner of her eye, Carri caught the Gold Ranger. Maybe the odds would turn in her favor.

"Who are you, costume freak?" the vampire asked, not at all impressed with the arrival of a ranger.

The vampire's grip loosened as Carri snorted. She couldn't help it, they had been asking the "who are you" question for a while now. She doubted the vampire would get an answer. Not to her surprise, the Gold Ranger ignored him and jumped up to grab a tree branch. Seconds later the tree branch went through his heart and he turned to dust, leaving Carri to fall to the ground.

"So you're a slayer too?" Carri asked, somewhat amused as the Gold Ranger pulled her to her feet.

Not being one for words, the Gold Ranger said nothing. She watched as he ran off to take care of the Cogs, leaving her with three vampires. She picked up the stake the Gold Ranger had dropped just as she heard her vampire friend returning. She went after one vampire while he singled out the other two. By the time she managed to figure out how to turn her vampire into dust, the other two vampires were gone along with the Cogs.

"Thank you!" Carri yelled to the mysterious Gold Ranger just as he was teleporting off. She caught a glimpse of the sixth mysterious vampire trying to leave as well. She grunted as she ran after him. What was up with these anonymous rescues?

She caught up to him on the sidewalk and quickly maneuvered so she was walking beside of him. "He may have gotten away, but you aren't." He glanced down briefly to acknowledge her. When he didn't say anything, she continued. "Thank you for saving me back there."

"Don't worry about it." He replied. He was used to it; he certainly did not want her to make a big fuss over it. Besides, he had places to be.

"At least let me buy you a coffee or something as a thank you." Carri said, suddenly wondering if he was going to think she was hitting on him. She was just curious. She wanted to know more about her rescuer, although she had a good idea who he was already.

"No that's fine." He spoke quickly, trying his hardest to politely brush her off. He was tempted to tell her to go away, but she had just been through a traumatic event and he figured she would give up eventually.

She rolled her eyes to herself as she realized how stupid that offer had been. "I imagine vampires don't drink coffee. I'd offer you some blood, but I don't exactly have a supply that's not, you know, attached to me."

The man laughed at her. "Vampire? What gave you that idea?" he asked as he couldn't help but wonder if she was more perceptive than he was giving her credit for.

"I heard you back there. You were definitely not human and since you were like the others I'm going with vampire." Carri replied. She was tempted to call him by his name. After all, she didn't think the vampire community had more than one member fitting his description.

"Look you've had a rough night. Maybe you should go home and get some sleep." He suggested, hoping that she would take his words to heart.

"A good vampire." Carri stated, crossing her hands over her chest. "You must be Angel." She said with a smug look on her face.

Angel stopped dead in his tracks and turned to look at her. It was impossible that she knew, wasn't it? He watched as she took a step toward him. "I'm Carri Hillard. I met Buffy last night at the Youth Center."

"So you're a friend of Buffy's?" Angel questioned. He didn't think Buffy had many friends outside of Sunnydale, but then again they didn't exactly talk about that sort of stuff often.

Carri nodded. She supposed they were considered friends now. They had fought vampires together. Plus they had seen a movie. "Since last night."

"What did she come right out and tell you?" Angel asked, suddenly angry with the young slayer. This was how you got people killed. She should know better than that.

"No." Carri said, immediately noticing the tone in his voice. She wanted to point out that it was unlikely that the powers that be were going to take away her slayer ability so she could tell whoever she damn well pleased. However, her better judgment warned her not to snap at a vampire, even one with a soul. "We met some of your friends last night. She told me about you this morning."

Angel looked as though he accepted what she was saying as he gave her a slight nod. "I need to speak to Buffy. Do you know where I can reach her?"

Carri noticed he went from angry to something else. Protective perhaps? "Yeah if you want to come back to my house I can call her, have her come over. Everyone is out of town so I'm home alone."

"That would be good." Angel replied as he followed her off. He couldn't wait to talk to Buffy, warn her about the Master's plans. He had been worried about her ever since he figured it out. He watched as Carri led the way through the town, finally making her way into a neighborhood. He couldn't help but wonder why she was walking that kind of distance this late at night as she approached the driveway and headed up to the door.

Angel stood back as Carri opened the door and walked in. He approached the doorway and hesitated. She turned back and looked at him curiously. He gave her a half smile. Apparently she didn't know everything about vampires. "I need an invitation."

"Oh." Carri said, suddenly remembering that part of the vampire story. "Come in." She said, watching as he walked through the door like anyone else. "Have a seat, I'll call Buffy." She watched him for a second as he went to sit on the couch before she headed off toward the phone in the kitchen.

Angel tried to make himself comfortable as Carri disappeared from his view. He could hear her pick up the phone. He hoped that Buffy would be here soon so he could talk to her. He didn't want her to walk into an ambush by the Master's followers as her new friend just had. He had seen the group that attacked her in Sunnydale before. They were relatively young in vampire years and he suspected they would do anything to get in good with the Master. This was why they were here, looking for Buffy, and picking Carri as a quick snack.

He watched as Carri walked back into the living room and slowly took the seat on the opposite end of the couch. "She's on her way." Carri said flashing him a smile. She was not quite sure how to make herself at home with a vampire on her couch. Buffy vouched for him so she wasn't worried, but at the same time, this was odd. It wasn't as if she hosted a vampire every day.

Angel noticed that she wasn't fully relaxed and he couldn't blame her. He was a vampire; it was in his nature to eat her for dinner. She had every right to be nervous around him and she should. Before he could say anything, the doorbell rang and she jumped up and went to get it.

Swinging open the door, Carri was surprised to find Rocky on the other side. "Hey. What are you doing here?" Not that she didn't enjoy his company but she had just left his house and he had no real reason to drop by this late.

"I got out of the shower and my sister was yelling at me about my watch alarm going off. When I heard what happened I rushed over here." He about had a heart attack when he had heard how close his girlfriend was to getting herself killed in the park that night. He wanted to drive her home earlier but she had refused. He should have driven her home anyway. He reached up and put his hands on her shoulders. "Are you ok?"

Carri bit her tongue. She almost died and now her backup shows up? It was all right, it was not his fault, but there was definitely no need to rush over here worried. "I'm fine." She said with a shrug. "The Gold Ranger showed up and rescued me."

"I wish we knew who that was." Rocky said as he stepped inside, releasing Carri from his grip. Carri went to shut the door while he thought about how the Gold Ranger keeps showing up at just the right time. Shaking that thought away he turned toward the living room. "Who's that?" he asked as he glared at the guy his girlfriend had apparently brought home with her.

Carri smirked. He was a bit upset and a bit jealous. It was not the first time. She always found it funny; he has never had any reason to worry. "Rocky, Angel. Angel, Rocky." Carri did a brief introduction.

"Nice to meet you." Angel spoke quickly. However, he could see the look the boy was giving him. He couldn't blame him; Angel was the mysterious man sitting in his girlfriend's living room.

"Excuse us for a second." Rocky said, trying his hardest to sound polite as he locked his arm into Carri's and pulled her into the kitchen. "Why is there a strange man sitting on your couch?"

Carri put her arms around her boyfriend, hoping to ease his mind a bit. "He helped rescue me. And he's not a strange man, he's a strange vampire."

Rocky reached up and put his hands on her shoulders. He wanted to shake some sense into her. Instead, he held her firmly, making sure she was paying attention to him. "You invited a blood sucking vampire into your house?" This was the dumbest thing she had ever done and he started thinking about how they were going to get out of there safely.

"Relax." Carri said as she lifted her hands up and put them on his arms. She supposed she should have elaborated further, after all no one in his or her right mind would approve of a vampire in the house. "He doesn't eat people. He has a soul."

"Right and I assume he told you this?" Rocky asked skeptically. Maybe it was because of the fight, but not only was she acting stupid tonight she was being quite gullible.

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, pushing Rocky away as she did so. "No." She replied sharply. "Buffy told me all this. He is her friend they are into each other. Do you really think I'm that stupid?"

"Oh." Rocky said as he realized what was going on. He suddenly felt bad for thinking the worst of her. "Sorry. He's a vampire and I was just worried and." He stopped when he realized he was not getting anywhere. With a sigh, he switched subjects. "So the vampire slayer is dating a vampire?"

"Not dating." She quickly corrected. Although she was sure it was heading that way. "They're just into each other. Now can we go back out there and wait for Buffy?"

"Yeah." Rocky replied, slipping his hand into hers. Carri allowed him to walk her back out into the living room but before they could sit, the doorbell rang again.

This time it was Buffy at the door. "What's so important?" the slayer asked as she stepped into the door that Carri was holding open. She glanced around and saw Rocky before her eyes met with their guest. "Angel." She said simply. Her heart fluttered wildly. She was not expecting to see him here. Not that she did mind seeing him.

Angel stood and immediately headed over toward her. "The master is sending his forces after you. He's going to try to kill you while you're away from Giles." He spoke quickly. She needed to know what was going on so she would be prepared, so she could protect herself. "I came to warn you." He added.

Buffy gave him a nod. "I noticed that Angel Grove was getting a bit vampire happy." Now Angel had just confirmed what she had originally suspected. That this was the work of the Master. "How did you wind up here with my new friends?"

"Carri was attacked by vampires in the park. I saved her life." Angel replied. "Along with a stranger in black spandex." He quickly amended. Tonight had been strange, even for him.

"Black spandex?" Buffy questioned with a laugh. She couldn't imagine anybody running around in spandex trying to fight vampires. "Someone needs to tell him that spandex went out a long time ago."

"Well despite the spandex he was a good fighter." Angel replied. He had been quite surprised that he had been able to handle the vampires and destroy those other things with ease.

Buffy smiled even though Angel was completely serious. There was a lull in the conversation and she switched topics. "So where are you staying?"

"Underground." Angel told her. "It's not as nice as my place in Sunnydale but it's out of the sun so it will do." Not as nice was an understatement. His place in Sunnydale was not the Ritz, but it seemed that way in comparison to his temporary home.

"Good." Buffy said. That was when she noticed their proximity. Throughout the conversation, they had been inching closer to each other. She wanted to put her arms around him and kiss him but she knew she couldn't. She had to be rational about this. She was not going to jump his bones, even though there were obvious sparks there. "So…" she let her voice trail off as she inched back.

"So." Angel stated as he turned and walked off, trying to put some distance in between them. He wanted to kiss her. He always wants to kiss her. However, no matter what his feelings are, it isn't a good idea. "Are you having a good time in Angel Grove?"

"As much fun as I can have." Buffy replied with a shrug. Her family drove her nuts and she had much rather be in Sunnydale with her friends. Although she had met new friends out of this. "I have enjoyed hanging out with people close to my own age."

Angel looked up at the mention of people close to Buffy's age. He had all but forgotten that Rocky and Carri were in the room with them. However, they weren't paying them much attention as the two were off to the side having their own conversation. He looked away as he pondered what Buffy had just said. "It's better than hanging out with someone two hundred years older than you."

"I was referencing my older relatives." Buffy said matter-of-factly. She hated when he pointed out the fact that he was much older than she was. He was a vampire; vampires don't age so it doesn't count. "Not the two hundred year old who looks twenty."

"I'm here if you need me." Angel swiftly changed the conversation. He did not want to have this argument with her right now. It was time to circle back to the point of the visit. "I don't know what the Master has planned. With Giles in Sunnydale he may try to send something after you that you haven't seen before."

"The Master can bring it. I'd like to see him throw a monster at me." Buffy said somewhat cheerfully. For some reason she was feeling quite confident, especially now that Angel was here. "We'll send it back to him in pieces, in a box, with a nice red bow on top."

That comment pulled Carri's thoughts momentarily away from Rocky and Carri chuckled to herself as Rocky leaned down and whispered in her ear. "At the first sign of a monster I think she's going to be in for a surprise."

"I should get going." Angel said. He had heard her laugh and him whisper something. He didn't know what they were thinking but perhaps he had intruded long enough.

"Me too." Buffy said, hoping they could walk out together. "If the Master sent his goons after me that means I need to patrol."

"See you later." Carri said, giving them both a quick wave as they walked out of the house together. Once they were, alone she turned her attention toward Rocky. While Buffy and Angel's romantic tension had been growing, theirs had as well. It was as though it had suddenly dawned on her that they were in the house almost alone without any chance of anyone coming home. They had talked, smiled, and put their arms around each other while they were letting Buffy and Angel talk. Now that they were gone, she put her arms around his neck and leaned into him, giving him what quickly turned into a rather exciting kiss.

Rocky responded by putting his arms on her waist, slipping them under her shirt and pulling her closer. He could tell that she was somewhat surprised when his hands slid up and even more surprised when they abruptly stopped. "I should get going too. It is late, and my mom is going to freak out if I'm not home soon. I told her I was going out for soda."

He was interested to see where this was going to go. They actually had the house to themselves with no sign of anyone coming home anytime soon and they could do whatever they wanted. She certainly seemed interested in carrying on. However, it was late, and Carri was going to be home alone until almost New Years. He was going to have to be responsible that night. However, he definitely planned to come over here when they both had time to be alone, together, and start this back up again.

"Oh. Ok." Carri replied. It was evident that she was disappointed. They were here alone together. That didn't happen often. She wanted to take things further with him. They weren't going to have a better opportunity than while her aunt and uncle were out of town. But he was right it was late tonight. Now would not be good. They would have to wait for another time.

"I'll talk to you later." Rocky said, flashing her a smile. He was upset that he had to leave and that he was disappointing her. To make her feel better, he leaned down for one more kiss. Seconds later, their hands were all over each other. After a while, Rocky pulled away from her and both of their hands dropped. They both knew that right now was not the time to continue this. After a quick goodbye that did not involve a kiss, Rocky left, leaving both of them to think about what was going to happen next.

* * *

The next afternoon Carri found herself sitting in the Youth Center watching Billy and Rocky spar. Well she wasn't really watching Billy, just Rocky. She was thinking about him, about the night before, about what could happen in the next few days. She was determined that last night would continue if they ever had free time that didn't involve some sort of fighting or slaying.

"So this is where you guys hang out all day?" Buffy asked as she walked up to Carri, obviously surprising her, as she had been deep in her thoughts.

Carri mentally shook herself. She had to stop thinking about that. For a brief second she wished she could discuss her thoughts with another female friend. She didn't know Buffy well enough to share them though and if she told Kat, who knew how that would end. Kat was not inclined to think about any sort of serious physical relationship with a guy, let alone talk to her about it. Kat got flustered when she walked in on the two of them kissing.

The yellow ranger pulled herself away from that topic and tried to focus. "And that's what they do all day." She replied as she gestured to the mats.

"Giles and I do that sometimes." Buffy said as she watched them spar. Wherever Carri's mind had been earlier, she had seemed to pull herself back down to this reality. "Only Giles doesn't fight back."

"The guys are always out there sparring." Carri told her, emphasis on the always. Of course, that was always in between everything else, but sometimes it seemed like it was more than that considering they were over there just about every time they were in the Youth Center.

"So what do the girls usually do at times like these?" Buffy questioned. She didn't know what to do for fun in Angel Grove, although Carri had said this was pretty much their hang out spot.

Carri gave her a shrug. "My cousin and I usually end up watching them." Either that or shopping, butas much as Kat liked to shop sometimes going with Carri drove her a bit crazy so they didn't go as much as Carri would like. Carri smiled to herself. There were few who could keep up with her shopping habits.

Buffy gave her a nod. Not how she expected to spend her afternoon but it might be fun to watch someone spar instead of participate. Although she might have to get in there before it is all said and done to show the boys how sparring is really done. "Let's not change the usual." Buffy replied, turning to make herself comfortable. Carri started to get comfortable as well while Buffy relaxed. Even if she just sat here all day, it was much better than hanging out with her boring relatives.

* * *

"Well this has been an interesting day." Buffy said as she walked along the edges of the park that evening with Carri and Rocky. It had been interesting to her at least. She watched the boys for a while before wiping the mat with both of them. It was kind of fun and Carri seemed to have gotten a kick out of it.

"More like boring." Carri replied with a frown. Except for the part when Buffy took Rocky down. She thought it was hysterical. He didn't agree, although he had excessively pointed out that Buffy was the slayer, which was why she was able to beat him on the mats.

After that there was a lot of down time that was spent hanging out with friends. Not that Carri did not enjoy lazy days with friends but there was not anything exciting about it. They went to the beach for a little while after the boys were done sparring. Then they all went to dinner together, after which Billy took off to go to work, his work being assisting Alpha and Zordon.

"It has been a boring last few days." Rocky chimed in. Mondo has kept quiet for a while. It was somewhat odd, but then again he supposed he shouldn't complain.

"Boring?" Buffy repeated, quite shocked that he could refer to anything about the last few days as boring. "I just introduced you to the world of vampires and you call that boring?" It took Xander and Willow days to get over the whole vampire thing and come back down to normal.

"With the exception of the vampires of course." Rocky quickly amended. He had brushed the vampires off as another bad guy to fight in Angel Grove. It was weird that they existed, but he had seen a lot in the last two years and vampires didn't really faze him.

"Of course." Buffy said as she rolled her eyes. Like vampires were something to be forgotten. "Now if we see a monster that will be excitement. You will no longer be able to call your days boring."

"I hope we don't see a monster." Carri said, letting out a little groan. She had seen Cogs this week and that was enough. With the vampires around, she would rather skip the monster for the moment. "I don't want to deal with a monster."

"I know. Vamps are one thing, but monsters," Buffy paused and shook her head, "we don't want to meet a monster." Especially not with her human encyclopedia of all things hellmouthy and all the weapons he came with back in Sunnydale.

"Let's not talk about monsters." Rocky suggested. He didn't want to think about one attacking any more than anyone else did.

"Right. Not my favorite topic of conversation either." Buffy agreed. There were much better things to talk to her new friends about that didn't involve monsters.

"So did you see anything interesting last night?" Carri questioned. She couldn't help but wonder how many vampires had made their way into their town.

"Patrolling?" Buffy questioned and she nodded. So they have gone from monsters to vampires. She should have known. They were new to this, they were curious. "Nothing besides your standard vamp here and there."

"Why don't we go with you tonight?" Rocky suggested. Why he suggested it, he didn't know. Vampires were Buffy's business. Nevertheless, they were still rangers and it was still up to them to protect Angel Grove. Even if he would rather be with Carri at her place.

"Absolutely not." Buffy said firmly. The last thing she wanted to do was babysit them. It was a nice offer, but it wasn't going to happen. "It's way too dangerous."

"We'll be careful." Carri piped up. She didn't know why, she really didn't want to do it. She supposed it was part of ranger responsibility somehow. They had to make sure there weren't too many vampires lurking around. They were responsible for keeping the citizens of Angel Grove safe. Besides vampires only came out at night, she could entertain her other thoughts at any free moment during the day.

"I don't think so." Buffy spoke quickly. She didn't know why they were so eager to put themselves in harm's way. Carri had almost been killed the night before.

Rocky and Carri glanced at each other as they arrived at the place Buffy was staying. They both had the same thought. Whether Buffy liked it or not, they were going to go out that night and see what was going on in their town.

"I'll talk to you guys later." Buffy said, giving them both a smile. It was time to go inside and collect stakes before heading out to do some dusting.

"Later." Carri said as Rocky said his goodbyes. Once Buffy went inside they walked off hand in hand, both thinking about the best way to take care of the city's vampire problem.

* * *

So far, Buffy had been patrolling for almost an hour with no sign of any vampires. She supposed that was a good thing. Unless of course they were all hanging out together waiting to ambush her. Then it was a very, very bad thing.

She sighed as she marched on, stopping only when she heard a noise. She lifted her stake up and turned to the source, only to be surprised by the two humans standing here. "What are you guys doing here? I told you not to come." Buffy spoke harshly. They were going to get themselves killed. This was not some sort of vampire fantasy world where anybody who wanted to could stake a vampire.

"Actually you said I don't think so. You never actually said the word no." Carri replied with a smirk. It was a technicality. She had phrased it in other ways. Of course, they knew what she meant and Buffy knew they knew what she meant and the slayer was rightfully ticked. Carri felt bad about it, but as far as she was concerned they were superheroes too and Buffy would have to get over it.

"Well you're here now." Buffy said with an agitated sigh as she turned and started walking. They could fight they had shown that. She would have to trust that they knew enough not to get themselves killed. She couldn't watch them if there was a real vampire battle.

Rocky and Carri moved quickly to keep up. "We'll leave if things get too intense." He promised. At least they would disappear, morph, and come back. He didn't know what Zordon's official stance on vampires was but he figured they would be allowed to use their powers. Vampires were not much different from Zedd, Rita, or Mondo.

"I wonder where Angel is." Buffy said to herself. She missed his company. Plus he could help keep her friends safe. Carri looked over at her and once she realized she sparked Carri's curiosity she continued. "This is about the time he sneaks up on me."

"I'm sure he'll be here." Carri assured the slayer. She noticed that the two of them had a thing. There was no way he would stay away. "He was wandering around last night so you'll probably see him soon."

"Yes but," Buffy paused as she heard another noise. She had to assume it was Angel or a not so nice vampire. She turned once again with her stake in hand, ready for action. "Alright, show yourself."

"I am Vampiro and I am here to take over your world." Mondo's latest creation announced as he jumped out of nowhere and swooped down in front of the trio.

"Oh brother." Carri said rolling her eyes heavenward. It was bound to happen eventually. She hadn't thought robot vampire was the direction he would take but whatever. They would have to get away from Buffy and take care of him.

"That's a bit late and not really creative." Rocky pointed out. He was not that impressed with the monster's outward appearance. Of course that didn't mean he didn't pack quite a punch, and he shifted into fighting stance as Carri and Buffy did the same.

"A vampire monster?" Buffy questioned as she noticed her friends moving into position to fight. She took a step toward him a twirled her stake in her hand. "I guess I'll have to slay you too." She said hoping that a stake through the heart would do the trick.

"Buffy that's not." Carri stopped short when she realized she didn't know how to explain it. That is not a vampire. That is not even a monster like the ones you are used to; he is a creation from the evil King of the Machine Empire, here to kill us. Yes, that would go over well.

"Get out of here now!" Buffy ordered. She was not going to take no for an answer, this was serious. She could see Carri formulating a protest but she didn't have time to think as Vampiro lifted up his arms and shot beams out of his eyes at the teens, who immediately ducked for cover.

"New plan." Buffy spoke quickly as she looked at her two friends. She was going to have to get a hold of Giles quickly or this was going to get ugly. "Run."

They watched as Buffy stood and took off, assuming that they were behind her. Once they felt as though she was a safe distance away, they turned back to the monster. "She's not the one you want." Carri reminded the monster, who had his eye in the direction that the slayer had run off to.

"You're right." Vampiro said as he turned toward the two teens in front of him. "It's the rangers I'm going to drain of blood."

Carri rolled her eyes and even Rocky couldn't help but snicker. He sounded like he came from a bad Dracula movie. "You don't stand a chance." Rocky promised. Before he or Carri could do anything further, a hole opened up and Cogs appeared. Carri and Rocky eyed each other briefly before they jumped into fighting stance, just in time to be covered with the Cog army.

* * *

It didn't take long for Buffy to realize that her friends had not followed her running away plan as she had expected them to. She stopped short and turned around to see no one anywhere near her. "Don't tell me they're trying to play hero." She said as she shook her head.

She knew she had to get back there before this thing killed them and she took off for the last spot she had seen the monster. Seconds later she arrived, stake in hand and ready to do some damage. However, she was quite confused and she didn't even know where to start. She simply stood there and watched the events unfold.

Rocky threw the last of the Cogs off him, briefly glancing toward Carri to make sure she was clear as well. Satisfied, he thrusts his arms to his side. "Now it's your turn. It's morphin time!"

"Zeo ranger two, yellow!"

"Zeo ranger three, blue!"

"What a nice trick." Vampiro commented as within a blink of an eye the two teens were fully transformed into Zeo Rangers.

"If you like tricks I've got one for you." Carri said devilishly as she grinned from behind her helmet. "Zeo two, power weapon!"

"Zeo three, power weapon!" Rocky called out, attacking Vampiro seconds behind his girlfriend.

After one good hit, Vampiro threw them off him and more Cogs appeared out of nowhere, quickly surrounding the fallen rangers. Fortunately for them there was a mystery ranger there to help. "I suggest you leave them alone." The Gold Ranger said as he separated the Cogs from the other two rangers.

"Now I'm pissed." Carri said as she jumped up and looked over at Rocky. He could not beat them on his own; he had to call more Cogs into play.

"Let's finish him." Rocky said, glancing over at the yellow ranger who gave him a nod. He and Carri went back for their Zeo weapons and charged Vampiro vigorously. He faltered and they maneuvered to the side, pulling out their Zeo pistols and firing.

They watched as he fell to the ground, the smaller version of the monster defeated. They stood waiting for him to fall into the normal pattern and grow. "One, two, three, four." Rocky stopped counting once the monster was city wrecking size. "Four seconds, they're getting slower." He commented. He could hear Carri chuckle but he ignored it. They still had a battle to fight. "We need Zeo Zord power now!"

Alpha piloted the pink and green Zeo Zords, which gave Rocky and Carri access to theirs. However, without someone piloting the red Zeo Zord they were down a Megazord. "Without your leader you can't combine. I will crush you like bugs." Vampiro said, following up his statement with the perfect Dracula laugh.

Carri laughed aloud. She couldn't help it; his lame Dracula impression was amusing. She was still amused even though he was somewhat stronger than the smaller version and kicking their zords around quite a bit. Amused did not mean she lost focus but there was not much she could do given the circumstances.

"We need to form the megazord." Rocky pointed out the obvious from the cockpit of his zord. They were taking a beating; he was not too sure how this one was going to end.

Carri cringed as her zord took a particularly hard beating. Any amusement had faded away. "I agree but we're going to have to make do with what we've got."

As if their prayers had been answered, the sound of a bird was heard flying above them. "Word is you could use a hand." Tommy's voice came through loud and clear.

"Here you are saving my butt again this week." Carri said, suddenly feeling quite chipper about the battle. "You know Tommy's not going to let us live down the time he had to skip out during vacation to bail us out."

Tommy chuckled. "Nope." He replied as he moved in with the other Zords. "You owe me big time now." He teased. He went to take a shot at Vampiro who immediately shot back, narrowly missing the zord.

"I think it's time to show this guy our firepower." Rocky pointed out. They needed to destroy this guy and get back to Buffy before she figured out what was going on.

"Right." Tommy agreed, all joking aside as he was firmly in red ranger mode. He quickly shifted gears as he and the other rangers moved to form the megazord.

Vampiro watched unimpressed as the five zords came together. "You've made my job much simpler. Now I have one target to fire at instead of five."

Carri snickered and while the boys were amused with his accent, they declined to respond. Instead, Tommy went for the final shot. "How about we show you our fire power." He said as he called for the zord's saber.

With a slash of the saber, Vampiro fumbled and tripped but did not go all the way down. "It will take more than that to hurt me." Vampiro said as he pulled himself back to a standing position.

"Let's form the Ultrazord." Gold Ranger suggested as he arrived in Pyramidas.

"Right." Tommy quickly agreed. This vampire robot was becoming a pain and he was ready to take him down. Maneuvering swiftly the rangers combined their Megazord with Pyramidas. Once the Ultrazord was complete, they fired on Vampiro. Even he could not withstand that blast and he fell back for good.

The rangers quickly said goodbyes and Rock, and Carri returned to the surface and powered down. "We need to find Buffy." Rocky said as his girlfriend nodded. How they were going to explain this he had no idea.

"No need." A voice said from behind them. The rangers spun around to see Buffy emerge.

Carri cringed. "How much of that did you see?" Although from the look on Buffy's face, she had pretty much seen it all.

"Enough." Buffy said as she looked from one ranger to the other.

Rocky sighed. "I guess we owe you an explanation." He said with a frown. So much for them keeping their identities a secret.

"Yeah I would say so." Buffy spoke harshly as she crossed her arms over her chest. She had told them her secret, she had told them all about slaying vampires and they couldn't bother to tell her that they had other identities as well. "I told you everything about me. And you couldn't bother to fill me in on this?"

"When we were picked to be rangers we were given rules to follow. Number one is don't tell anyone our identities." Carri said, watching as Buffy looked skeptical. "Being a ranger isn't a birthright. If we break the rules, our mentor Zordon can replace us."

"We've had twelve different rangers since our freshman year in high school filling five or six different spots. Everyone so far has left voluntarily but if we break the rules it would be easy to transfer our powers to a replacement." Rocky added. No ranger had ever blatantly broken Zordon's rules. They were easy to follow. He didn't know what would happen if someone did. He supposed they would be asked to step down but who knew.

"I can blab all I want. The only way to get a new slayer is to kill the old one. Not that I want everyone to know I'm the crazy vampire girl." Buffy said as she thought for a moment. She supposed she couldn't get too angry with them. They came from a different world with a different set of rules than she had. "So Zordon is your mentor?" she asked, figuring it was their turn to tell her stuff.

"Yeah. He's an inter-dimensional being who is currently trapped in a time warp but he guides us from his tube in our Power Chamber, along with the assistance of a robot, Alpha 5." Rocky explained. He hoped Buffy understood why this was all secret.

"Billy hangs out there and helps too. He's our resident genius." Carri said with a smile. She was never around before Billy was there all the time but Rocky said he has made a huge difference and she doesn't doubt it.

Buffy chuckled. Billy had seemed like the academic type. "The thing the other night with your ankle, do you have healing powers?" she asked. This one thing had been bugging her the last two days. There was no way she should have healed that quickly.

"Technically no." Carri replied, watching as Buffy frowned. "I mean if we're morphed we heal quicker. However, I couldn't morph without a bad guy to fight so I went to see Billy who used one of our machines to heal my ankle. We have access to some of the most advanced equipment in the galaxy."

"So do you guys deal with monsters like that all the time?" Buffy questioned, gesturing to the spot where Vampiro once stood. He was certainly not like the monsters she faced.

"Mostly." Rocky said with a shrug. "The Machine Empire is who is currently trying to conquer Earth. The send down a variety of monsters, Cogs, anything they can think of to destroy us. Usually it goes about like what you saw tonight."

"Right." Buffy said simply. This was a lot to think about. She supposed what people said about the weird things in Angel Grove was true and not carefully staged events as some of the rest of the country thought they were. "Anyway I think I am going to take off and patrol. By myself. Unless you guys need to patrol for those monsters."

"Nope. That's what these are for." Carri said as she held up her hand and pointed to her communicator. "When Zordon's alarms go off we get paged and told where to go to stop the bad guys."

"That's convenient." Buffy said with a smile. It would be nice if her job came with one of those. That way she wouldn't have to patrol, she could just to right to the vamp and stake him. "I'll talk to you guys later."

Rocky and Carri said goodbye before the duo took off, leaving Buffy with a lot to think about as she patrolled Angel Grove.

* * *

The next day Buffy and Carri were walking around town together. Buffy had thought a lot about what she had learned the previous night and she was ready to welcome the two superheroes into her circle of friends. This is why she called Carri to see if she wanted to hang out and talk.

"I don't see how you find time to date." Buffy commented as they strolled down the sidewalk. They had been discussing boys and relationships, something that Buffy had been out of the loop on lately. "My job is only a night job and I have no time for dating."

"We don't have to patrol. Plus we aren't attacked every day. Last night was our first monster fight in almost a week." Carri replied. She could see how Buffy's job would interfere with her social life. Although Mondo had the worst timing, they were still able to lead semi-normal social lives around their rangering activities.

"At least your boyfriend knows about you running off to save the world. I've tried to date guys, but it's kind of hard to explain why I have to run off suddenly or why I carry a stake in my bag." Buffy said with a sigh. That was probably the worst part of slaying.

"I don't think any of the rangers have dated outside our group, at least since they got their morphers." Carri replied. At least none that she knew of. "Our green ranger is dating the former yellow ranger. And the red ranger was dating the former pink ranger. That is the ranger dating history as far as I know."

"If we're picking from people I know my choices are Xander, who isn't my type and my best friend is into him, Giles who's way older than me and likes to sit around and read books all day, and Angel, the vampire. That rules him out." Buffy said with a frown. She hated thinking about how there were no guys truly available to her. Not without bringing one into the fold.

"Please you know you'd date Angel." Carri said giving her a look. She had seen them interact. There was definitely something there.

"No." Buffy replied quickly. That was too complicated no matter how much she was into him. Carri immediately shot her a look and Buffy sighed. "Fine, I would date him if given the chance. Even though he's a vampire and two hundred years older than me."

"So then why don't you?" Carri asked raising an eyebrow. She wanted him, he wanted her, and she didn't think there was anything else needed in that equation.

"Because he's a vampire and I'm the slayer. Even though he wants to and I want to I just don't think that will work." Buffy said. It was complicated and she wasn't sure if anyone truly understood. "Anyway enough talking about Angel."

"Fine." Carri said as she shook her head. Something was going to happen between them eventually even if Buffy didn't want to believe that. "So what do you want to do today?"

"I was kind of hoping you could show me around your ranger headquarters." Buffy said as she glanced over at her. She was curious now that she knew. She was a hero too, that should be enough to get her an invite.

"The Power Chamber?" Carri questioned as Buffy nodded. She paused to think about that for a moment. Zordon didn't allow random visitors. Not that they had ever been in this situation before. However, Buffy was not random; she was a hero as well. Finally, she nodded. "Follow me."

"What are we doing?" Buffy asked as she let Carri lead her into the back corner of an alleyway. She didn't think this was where their Power Chamber was and she wasn't sure if she felt comfortable here.

"You'll see." Carri replied with a sly grin as she reached out and grabbed Buffy's hand. Before Buffy could ask any more questions, Carri hit a button on her communicator and they were off.

"Intruder alert!" Alpha exclaimed as the two girls materialized in front of him.

The corners of Carri's mouth pulled up slightly at the little robot's panic attack. "Relax Alpha, she's with me."

"You are not supposed to bring outsiders into the Power Chamber." Zordon spoke sternly. He had never expressly said that to his teens but he did not think he had to, he had assumed it was understood.

"She knows about all us." Carri said with what she hoped was an apologetic smile. She knew she was breaking an unwritten rule when she did it. However, she didn't think there was any harm in it.

"I'm Buffy Summers. I'm the vampire slayer." Buffy spoke quickly. Hopefully he knew what a slayer was and that she should be allowed in good guy headquarters.

"The slayer?" Zordon questioned. It had been a long time since he had heard anything about the Chosen One. "It has been ages since I have been in the presence of a slayer."

"What's a slayer?" Billy questioned. It appeared as though he was the only one in the room who hasn't been filled in on the nature of their guest.

"The one girl in the world who was chosen, given the strength and skill necessary to kill the vampires and stop the Master." Buffy gave the abridged version of Giles' favorite speech.

"It is important that you keep the Master from getting out." Zordon said as he looked down at the young slayer. There was another creature who he had not thought of in a long time.

Buffy cocked her head to the side. Not only did he know who she was, but he knew the Master as well. "How do you know who the Master is?"

"Rita Repulsa first came to Earth over ten thousand years ago and teamed up with the Master in an effort to take over a fairly easy planet and use it for its resources." Rita had wanted to make the primitive people her slaves so she had workers to get what needed to take over a neighboring galaxy. The Master was standing in her way. All he wanted was a good supply of humans to efficiently drain of blood. It was much easier to work with him than against him. "I followed her here and worked with the slayer to destroy them both. The slayer sacrificed herself to trap the master while I trapped Rita, but not before she trapped me in here." Zordon explained. He had not thought about his last days as a free being in a while. At first, he was angry at being trapped, but he quickly realized that he had a greater purpose that he was yet to serve and he had not thought much about the beginning since.

"How come we were never informed of this?" Billy questioned. This was fascinating to him but it wasn't completely like the way they had been told everything happened.

"How come it isn't in any of Giles books?" Buffy tossed out another question before he could answer the first.

"I never told the rangers because there was no need to. If the Master would ever try to escape it would be the slayer's duty to handle it, not the rangers." Zordon answered his ranger first. That was why he never even told his rangers that vampires existed. Their duties were separate from that of the slayers. Plus they never had to worry about vampires, at least not in Angel Grove. Zordon's presence in Angel Grove kept them away as they knew he was part of the team that had beaten the Master, and when Rita was freed they wanted nothing to do with the town she was attacking. If there were any here now, it was solely because of the slayer.

As Billy looked satisfied, Zordon turned his attention toward Buffy. "I am not in your books because outside of the slayer I worked with, no human is aware that I had anything to do with the Master's entrapment."

"Oh." Buffy said, figuring that was a good enough answer for the moment. The conversation paused and she finally had a second to look around the Power Chamber. "This is some really neat stuff you've got here."

"Yeah. I know a bit about some of it. But if you really want to know how things work you should talk to Billy." Carri said as she gestured to the former blue ranger.

"I would have you show it to me but I doubt I'd understand how any of it worked." Buffy said with a smile. Technology was not her thing, especially advanced, alien technology.

Buffy walked around the Power Chamber, stopping to glance at the rangers old uniforms. As she walked past the alarm, it went off and she jumped back. "What's that?"

"The Cogs are attacking people in the park." Alpha said, ignoring Buffy for the moment.

Carri rolled her eyes. "Someone needs to tell Mondo to get a life." She said as she shifted, looking briefly at Billy who caught her eyes and smiled. "It's morphin time! Zeo ranger two, yellow!"

The yellow streak disappeared and Billy pointed Buffy toward the viewing screen. "You can watch the fight from here."

Within seconds there were two rangers on the ground battling. Buffy smiled. "Maybe I should get Giles one of these for Christmas." She paused as she watched Billy do something with the controls. "Then again the technology would probably go over his head."

"The technology with the viewing equipment is fairly simple." Billy assured her.

Buffy couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Compared to what?" Willow was good with computers and she doubted that she would understand this stuff.

"The other equipment in the Power Chamber." Billy replied. At least he thought it was easy. It had been one of the first pieces of equipment he was able to learn about.

"That helps." Buffy said sarcastically as she smiled at Billy. Much to her surprise a flash of yellow light appeared before them and materialized into Carri. "That was a quick fight." Buffy commented.

Carri shrugged. "They gave up." She replied as she glanced over at Billy. As nice as that was, it was not always a good thing. She knew they would be waiting for something else to happen now. Carri sighed. She would deal with that later. For now, she had a new friend to hang out with. "You ready to get going?"

"Yeah I think I've seen enough technology to fill my lifetime quota." Buffy replied. There was enough stuff in here for her to learn about for the next several years.

"You up for a sale at the mall?" Carri questioned. She was dying to go and the sale wouldn't last long. Kat wasn't here, not that she was one hundred percent positive the pink ranger would be enthusiastic to go with her, and she was hoping that maybe Buffy would be interested in shopping with her.

"Absolutely." Buffy replied. She hadn't had a shopping buddy in a while. She hadn't really had time to worry about shopping in a while between school and slaying and training. Now she was on vacation. And vacation meant she was going to enjoy herself.

Carri held her hand out which Buffy took a hold off. A few seconds later, they were teleporting back to the surface, where the two female superheroes could enjoy a nice, leisurely afternoon and put everything about rangering and slaying behind them for a while.


	6. Green With Evil

**Disclaimer:** The rangers are still Disney's, everyone else is mine.  
**Author's Notes:** This is the sixth chapter in Ranger Scrolls. It has been on the website before but this is the updated version. This takes place toward the beginning of February, around a month after Jason has returned. Between chapters five and six of the Ranger Scrolls, the Zeo episodes would have gone from "Oily to Bed, Oily to Rise" through "Scent of a Weasel". As always, reviews are appreciated. Enjoy!

Ranger Scrolls  
"Green With Evil"

He was a force of evil, one unlike anything the rangers had ever seen before. He had managed to do something that no one before him could accomplish. He had killed them. Four of them so far, and now he was making his way to the team's fifth and final member.

"Prepare to die." He said with a growl as he launched toward the team's final member.

"Not if I can help it." The red ranger said as he stood. When they were picked by Zordon to be rangers he thought it would be fun to play superhero. Now that his closest friends were dead and he was the only one left he realized how serious of a job this was. He was not even holding out too well, he was afraid he'd join his friends shortly.

His opponent was stronger and the he knew it. "You are no match for me." He said as he pushed the red ranger back. The ranger attacked again and he kicked him hard, sending him spiraling into the air landing flat on his back. He stood over the powerless ranger with his sword in his hand.

"Your brand of evil will never win." The red ranger swore from where he laid. He knew though that it was too late, that he was going to die here and that his opponent would go on and his Queen would rule the Earth.

"It looks like it already has." He said with a smile as he plunged his sword into the chest of the planet's last remaining ranger. He watched as the life drained from the former red ranger. His Queen would be pleased. The planet was hers for the taking.

* * *

Far off in another dimension things could not have been better. It was a beautiful mid winter day in Angel Grove. It was unusually warm for that time of year and there were quite a few people lining the beaches. There were even some crazy enough to attempt the water, which is why there were a handful of lifeguards on duty.

One girl was taking advantage of the warmer weather and was walking along the beach, absorbed in her own thoughts. She caught the eye of one of the lifeguards who jogged down the beach to catch up to her, putting a hand on her shoulder to stop her and turning her toward him. "Hey." He greeted.

Carri was startled as someone pulled her out of her thoughts. She smiled as she realized who it was. "Hey."

"You looked your on another planet." Rocky commented. She was obviously a million miles away when she walked by. She hadn't even noticed him.

She gave him a slight shrug. "I was just thinking about things." She had gotten an email from her mother that morning and had a lot on her mind ever since then**. **Sometimes she and her mother didn't exactly see eye to eye.

"Like what?" Rocky questioned, insecurity nipping at him. He wondered if she was thinking about him, thinking about leaving him for someone else. He couldn't help it. She had always had many other guys hitting on her but she always said she never paid them much attention. He believed her; he never had any reason not to. However, ever since the former red ranger returned she has had a guy in her life that she had become quite close to and it made him a bit nervous and a lot jealous.

"Just stuff." She said not wanting to get into specifics. She really didn't like talking about her home life. She tended to abandon those conversations quickly. Her family was complicated.

"What, no details?" Rocky said jokingly, although he was more than a little curious about what she was thinking about during her walk.

"Not now. Maybe some other time." She replied with a smile. She hoped that by the time she got around to the other time he would forget about it.

"Now you've got me thinking it's something bad." Rocky teased. He hoped that she wouldn't realize he was serious. He was going to worry now about what exactly it was she was running through her mind.

"It's not bad." Carri said rolling her eyes. She thought about it for a moment. She didn't want him to get all paranoid on her. "We'll talk when you get off of work." She promised him. She was her father's daughter, she could play a part, come up with something convincing. She certainly didn't want to tell him about her mother's email, especially the parts that essentially said that Rocky, a boy who she had never even met, was not good enough for her and that David wanted her to fly home over their next break so they could get back together.

Rocky grinned at her. "I get off at five."

"Then it's a date." Carri replied, flashing him a smile as she leaned in for a kiss.

As Carri pulled back, Rocky groaned. "I don't have time for this now."

Crossing her arms over her chest Carri glared at him as though she could kill him with her eyes. She had a sharp comeback ready but she never got to say anything as Rocky grabbed her and spun her out of the way, kicking the Cog that now stood in the spot she had been in.

"He could've been more specific." She grumbled to herself as she stood and started to fight Cogs. At one point, the duo got separated and she was flung across the sand. She didn't notice the portal opening behind her as she stood. Not until something grabbed a hold of her ankle, threw her to the ground, and was pulling her backwards. She tried to grab something, anything to pull herself forward but the only thing within reach was sand.

"Rocky!" she yelled, hoping to get his attention before it was too late.

The blue ranger glanced momentarily at her but it was all that he could do. He was covered in Cogs and desperately trying to get to her.

* * *

Up the beach a ways, one of Angel Grove's newest couples was walking hand in hand. "I had a lot of fun this afternoon." Emily said as she smiled up at the guy she had been dating recently.

"Me too." Jason Scott replied as he glanced down at her. He was so glad to be back. He was already halfway out the door of the Peace Conferences when he had gotten the call to come back as a ranger. His initial duties there had been fulfilled, and they had offered for them to stay but only Trini and Zack wanted to continue. He wanted to come home and be a ranger again.

Now for the last few weeks, he had been back as a ranger and he was pumped. Not only was he able to get a new morpher, but he got to reunite with two of his former teammates and meet some new friends as well. He hardly knew Rocky and Adam before he left, and he had never met Carri or Kat until he returned. Things were definitely different than when he left but he was getting used to it. It helped that he was spending time with Emily, his new girlfriend.

"I hope we get to do it again sometime." Emily said. It was somewhat of a suggestion. She wanted to go ahead and plan another time to hang out with him with no interruptions. Today had been perfect.

"How about tomorrow night, if you're not busy?" Jason asked. He would scoop her up and take her out again that night and the next day but she had work and he had other obligations as well.

"Tomorrow night is great." Emily said, her voice lifting slightly. She had not had this much fun with a guy in a long time.

Jason stopped walking and maneuvered in front of Emily, leaning down to give her a kiss. Their kiss abruptly came to a halt when they heard yelling down the beach. Jason quickly turned and assessed the scene in front of them. Without hesitation, he ran off.

"What are you doing?" Emily called after him. She knew those were his friends but he shouldn't get involved; he should wait for the rangers.

"Rescuing my friends." Jason called back, not bothering to turn around and acknowledge her. He barely registered Emily's "be careful" as he ran to the outskirts of the fight, heading immediately for the yellow ranger.

"I've got you." Jason said, grabbing her hands and pulling her back. He thought he was getting somewhere when, without warning, whatever force was pulling on her intensified and pulled her in further, yanking him down to the ground. He tried to hang on to her hands and stand up, but before he could move the force pulled again, this time yanking them both through the portal.

"No!" Rocky yelled in disbelief as the portal closed behind them.

The Cogs looked at each other. None of them were quite sure what just happened here and they figured they should report to their king. With a shrug of the shoulders, they took off.

* * *

Carri and Jason fell out of the portal and onto the ground. They both pulled themselves to their feet and dusted themselves off. "You didn't have to try and rescue me." Carri pointed out. She felt horribly guilty that he had been sucked into this situation with her.

"I'm not going to let you disappear without a trace." Jason said smiling at her. They had become close in the time he had been back. He wasn't going to let anything happen to her. Of course now that they were both gone without a trace. He wasn't sure what good that did.

"Thanks Jase." Carri replied, smiling back at him. She was glad that he was with her. After Rocky, he was the next person on the list she would want to see follow her.

Of course, the reasons were much different than they were with Rocky. She didn't have romantic feelings for Jason, contrary to what Rocky might have thought. Her relationship with Jason started the night he returned to Angel Grove. She had been out walking in the park, heading to the spot she visited sometimes to think. On occasion, she had to get out of the house and be alone with her thoughts. She loved Kat to death but sometimes the pink ranger drove her crazy.

She was quite surprised to find somebody already sitting in her spot. That somebody was the newest addition to the team. She joined him and the two of them started talking. By the end of the night, they had come to several conclusions. The first of which was the fact that they were a lot alike. She had yet to decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing. The other was that they clicked really well. And although Carri didn't recognize it at the time, he was starting to fill a void she didn't realize was there with her brother on the other side of the country. She was close enough with Tommy and Adam, but it had never been like that with either of them.

For Jason it was similar. It didn't take long for him to realize he missed Kim, the girl he had grown up with and treated like a little sister. She had moved away now but there was Carri, who in some ways reminded him of Kim. He missed his unofficial sister and subconsciously he was letting Carri slide into that spot. By the next day, although neither of them had thought about it they both were like the siblings they never had. They were fond of each other like brother and sister, and it was quite obvious to the other rangers that there was some sort of connection there.

Even their first afternoon hanging out in the Youth Center the other rangers noticed they had spent some time alone together and had clicked. Their budding relationship was painfully obvious to Rocky, who was quite jealous and did not approve. Jason's first afternoon hanging out with the rangers had been particularly hard on Rocky. Jason was the first red ranger, he was the one that his friends wanted to spar with and hang out with and it brought Rocky down.

It was worse on Rocky because he was the last one to get to the Youth Center where his friends had been hanging out for a while, got quickly rejected by Tommy for Jason and then watched Jason joke around with his girlfriend between sparring matches. He was furious that everyone, including his own girlfriend was more focused on the returning leader and oblivious to him. It led to Rocky going into a tirade about being replaced as a friend, a boyfriend and a ranger, and his stupidly trying to take on King Mondo by himself.

"Where do you think we are?" Jason asked as he looked around the landscape.

Carri focused her brief thoughts back into the moment. "I don't know. It looks like Angel Grove." In appearance, it was Angel Grove but it definitely was not the city they just came from.

"Not our Angel Grove." Jason pointed out what Carri had been thinking. "This place looks like it's suffering from some serious monster attacks."

"No kidding." Carri replied as she looked around. Suddenly a group of funny grey things appeared in front of them, bobbing, weaving, and ready for a fight. "What the hell are they?"

"Putties." Jason said simply, more than a little shocked at the appearance of Rita's henchmen. He had not seen putties that looked like this since Zedd appeared.

"Huh?" Carri asked feeling quite confused. She felt as though Jason had been let in on a secret and she was left standing all alone on the outside.

"I'll explain later." Jason spoke quickly, briefly wondering if she was more confused at the putties or at the fact that he knew what they were. "We need to morph and take them out. It's morphin time!"

"Zeo ranger two, yellow!"

"Gold ranger power!"

Within seconds, there were two morphed rangers on the scene. They ran to the putties and launched into battle. The putties were fairly easy for the two experienced rangers and it didn't take long to defeat them. Before they could ponder what was going on, they were faced with another opponent.

"Welcome to your first and last battle with me, the Green Ranger." A cocky voice spoke from behind a green helmet.

Carri shifted to be ready for another battle while Jason just stood there. He could feel his jaw hit the bottom of his helmet as his mouth fell open. Before he had a chance to react, they were teleported away.

* * *

Emily's eyes were wide with disbelief as she ran down the beach, pushing through the already forming crowd to get to Rocky. "What happened? Where did they go?" she questioned as soon as she reached him. She didn't know why she asked him, she doubted he knew any more than she did.

"I don't know." Rocky replied shaking his head. It was an honest answer on his part. He supposed Louie Kaboom had something to do with it but he couldn't be sure. "One minute they were here and the next they were gone."

"We have to get them back." Emily said firmly, ignoring the few stray tears that were falling down her face.

Rocky didn't reply. He wanted them back as much as she did. However, he didn't know how to accomplish that. He looked around to see one of his coworkers breaking through the crowd and approaching him.

"I called the police. They're on their way." Cody informed him. Cody had worked with Rocky ever since the younger boy had started lifeguarding. He had seen part of what happened and he felt really bad for him.

"Thanks." Rocky said, although he knew good and well that the police would not be of any service to them. "I need to get going."

"You can't leave." Cody quickly pointed out, putting a hand out to stop him from walking off. "The police are going to want to question you."

Rocky nodded and swore to himself as some of his friends started pushing through the crowd. "What happened?" Tommy greeted as he approached, knowing full well what the answer to the question was before it was even asked.

"I don't know. This portal opened up and took Carri and Jason somewhere." Rocky said as he looked over at the remaining rangers.

Adam stepped in closer to his best friend. "We don't know either. Zordon said it wasn't Louie Kaboom, it came from wherever their destination was." He whispered to him.

"You mean they're lost?" Rocky whispered back in a panic. He was certain that as ranger they would know where they went and be able to swoop in and save them. Now his girlfriend was gone without a trace.

"Don't worry, Billy's on it." Adam tried to assure his best friend. However, he was not sure if that would be enough. If he had been the one to just watch his girlfriend get dragged through some strange portal he'd be panicked to get her back. "We'll find them."

Before Rocky could reply, the police pushed through to the center of the crowd and started peppering him and Emily with questions.

* * *

The two rangers immediately adjusted to their new surroundings once the teleportation was complete. "Alpha, Zordon?" Carri questioned as she glanced at the two familiar figures. "This isn't the Power Chamber." She said mostly to herself. This place was ok but it was not as open and it did not seem to have as much stuff in it as the Power Chamber. "Where are we?"

"The Command Center. It was where we first met Alpha and Zordon." Jason quickly answered her question as he stood beside her, before stepping forward to speak to Zordon. "But why are we here?"

"Rita has pulled you from your dimension to ours to fight her green ranger." Zordon answered Jason's question the simplest way he knew possible.

"What about the rangers on this world?" Jason asked. Unless he was completely off base there should be five rangers running around trying to stop the green ranger right about now.

"The rangers were killed in a battle with the green ranger." Alpha quickly explained. "Just like all the other rangers Rita has pulled into this dimension from their own." He added.

"Why would she do that?" Jason asked. It didn't make any sense. If Rita had succeeded in killing the rangers, she should have conquered the planet by now. It was what she always wanted to do.

"Rita has discovered that when her green ranger kills another ranger it gives her unimaginable powers." Zordon spoke as he looked at the two teens. "She no longer has her sights set on simply conquering Earth as she is fairly confident Earth is hers. She wants to rule the universe."

"How many dead rangers were Zeo rangers?" Carri asked, feeling quite confident in hers and Jason's ability to take care of one lone ranger with no trouble.

"You are the first two rangers we have encountered that don't draw their power from coins." Alpha replied. He and Zordon were somewhat surprised by the arrival of the Zeo rangers.

"It doesn't matter if we're Zeo rangers." Jason said simply as he looked up at Zordon. "I've turned him good once and I can do it again." He assured his mentor.

Zordon was confused by Jason's statement. "Do you know the identity of the green ranger?" he questioned.

"Of course." Jason said as though it should have been common knowledge. "It's Tommy Oliver."

"Tommy?" Carri repeated, somewhat skeptical. She knew Tommy had been evil years ago but there was nothing about this ranger that definitively said he was Tommy. "How can you be sure?"

"I can never forget what Tommy sounded like, how he acted when he was under Rita's spell." Jason said as he turned toward her. He didn't expect her to get it she was not around then. However, there was no mistaking that this Green Ranger was Tommy.

"But you cannot be sure. You should both attend classes at Angel Grove High tomorrow and see if you can confirm your suspicions." Zordon spoke, looking both rangers over. This was a serious accusation and they had to be certain. "Jason you can resume the classes the Jason of this world took, and we will tap in the school's computers to get you a schedule."

Carri crossed her arms. "The name's Carri." She did not appreciate the harsh look from Zordon or being refered to as you. Although he did just loose his rangers, maybe she could cut him some slack.

"Won't people suspect something if I'm dead?" Jason questioned. It didn't seem like the smartest idea to him.

"We have not told anyone on Earth yet of your demise." Alpha said. It was a hard game to play with the rangers families but after they had seen Rita pull their doubles into this world, they couldn't very well announce that they were dead.

The alarm suddenly went off and Zordon spoke. "Rangers, observe the viewing globe." He watched Jason turn immediately and Carri look around like a lost puppy dog until Jason grabbed her shoulders and pointed her in the right direction. "Rita has sent putties down along with Spidertron, her newest creation. You must go stop them."

"I hate spiders." Carri grumbled. The last thing she wanted was a spider monster.

"Zordon what Zords do we have?" Jason questioned

"You will be unable to use your zords here; however I can grant you access to the rangers Dinozords." Zordon replied. They did not have any of the Zeo Zords here and he had to assume that Pyramidas was in use by whoever held the Gold Ranger powers.

"Alright. It's morphin time!" Jason cried out. He, Carri quickly morphed, and teleported to the scene.

* * *

Ten minutes later Jason was back behind the controls of the Tyrannosaurs Dinozord for the first time in two and a half years, while Carri was getting a new experience in the Sabertooth Tiger Dinozord. With a little help from Alpha, the zords were getting ready to meet the remaining three Zords to combine to form the Megazord.

"You can't stop me!" Spidertron said with a laugh as the Megazord finished its formation.

"Please. We're going to squish you like… you're going down." Carri switched her train of thought midsentence. Technically he was a bug, and squish you like a bug just didn't fit.

Jason snickered as he went for the Power Sword. "Car you've got to be more creative than that."

"He's not worth the effort." She said, as they got ready to take him down. With one slice of the Power Sword, Spidertron hit the floor for good. "See. If I had bothered to think of something for him it would have been a waste."

Jason simply shook his head as he and Carri teleported back. Both were unaware at how much attention they were getting from above. "Zeo rangers?" Rita whined, wondering where in the world Zeo rangers came from. The Zeo Crystal was supposedly locked away tightly. "Why did they have to show up and ruin my fun?"

"I don't care who they are. I will still destroy them." The Green Ranger assured her. A ranger was a ranger and he could take them all down.

"Find out who they are." Rita said as she turned toward one of her greatest warriors. "You know they're looking for you."

"Yes my queen." The green ranger said, giving a slight bow before taking off.

Rita watched him disappear back down to the surface. "It's funny." She said turning toward Goldar with a smile. "He's destroyed more rangers than you have in your wildest dreams." He was going to destroy these two and when he did, getting her hands on Zeo powers would be just what she needed to conquer everything.

"He may be destroying rangers now, but he will fail and I will be the one to get all the glory." Goldar replied. He loathed the Green Ranger. It was he who loyally served Rita for thousands of years and now one punk teenager has become her favorite.

"You'd better hope he doesn't fail." Rita said glaring at him for a moment before turning her attention back to Earth.

* * *

As soon as the police were finished with their questioning, Rocky rushed back to the Power Chamber. "Have you found anything yet?" he asked Billy the moment he materialized.

"I believe they were pulled into another dimension." Billy gave him a quick explanation of the situation. He had done a lot of scanning and searching, and that was the most logical explanation.

"Can you track them down?" Adam questioned. Where they were didn't matter, it was getting them back that was important.

"I might be able to." Billy replied as he looked at Adam. "Each of us gives off a distinct energy signature that marks us of this world. I can search other dimensions looking for their signatures."

"How long will that take?" Tommy asked, worried about his teammates and hoping to have them back soon.

"There are many alternate dimensions out there. It is impossible to say how long it will take." Billy replied. He didn't want to say the real answer, a few hours to weeks or months or even longer.

"But you can find them right?" Kat questioned. Having her cousin disappear was not a good thing. Besides the fact that she worried for her, her parents were going to worry, her aunt and uncle would worry, and it was going to be a mess.

"Alright. Let's do it." Rocky said somewhat enthusiastically. He couldn't wait to find her and get her back. He was angry with himself for not being able to save her, he was worried that something was going to happen to her, and he couldn't help but be jealous that she was off somewhere with Jason.

"I'm already on it." Billy promised the blue ranger. "In the meantime I suggest you guys go home and get some sleep. It's been a long day and when I find them you guys may need to rush into action." He looked over at the others as Tommy, Adam and Kat reluctantly teleported off.

Rocky was hesitant to go. He sighed and looked over at Billy. "Call me the minute you find something." He said. He waited for the former ranger to nod in response then he took off as well.

* * *

After hunting down dinner and walking around some, Carri and Jason returned to the Command Center to find two cots waiting for them. "You can both sleep here." Alpha said as he gestured to the cots

"Thanks Alpha." Carri replied sitting down on one. It was not world's most comfortable bed but it would do.

Zordon looked at the rangers as Jason sat as well. "If you can find out for certain the identity of the Green Ranger, we may be able to defeat him with your Zeo powers."

"I only have to look at Tommy once to confirm it." Jason said as he thought about Tommy's time with Rita. He could never forget the look in his friend's eyes when he was evil. "By tomorrow I'll have your answer."

"You must be absolutely certain that it is Tommy." Zordon said as he looked at Jason. "If you falsely accuse him you will reveal your identities as rangers to Rita and her Green Ranger."

"We'll prove it, don't worry." Jason assured him. Zordon needed proof and he would find it, although he didn't need it for himself. He was certain.

"Rangers I suggest you get some sleep. You have a long day ahead of you." Alpha said as he looked at the duo.

Jason and Carri smiled and nodded at the little robot. The lights in the Command Center dimmed and they lay down. They talked for a while before both finally drifted off for the night.

* * *

Around three that morning the blue ranger found himself jerking up, wide awake. He had been having the same nightmare repeatedly. Pulling himself to a sitting position, he crossed his legs and simply shook his head.

Carri and Jason were missing and it was his fault. When she needed him the most he couldn't get to her, couldn't do a thing to help her. If he had tried harder he could have gotten around the Cogs and saved her, and then she and Jason would both be here now. He was angry with himself for letting her down.

With a sigh, he climbed out of bed. There was no way he was getting any sleep that night, if the past few hours were any indication. He threw on some clothes and teleported up to the Power Chamber. "Need a hand?" he asked upon arrival.

"I thought you were going home to get some sleep." Billy said. However, after looking his friend over, he avoided any kind of lecture he might have given. The blue ranger looked horrible and it was obvious he had not gotten any sleep. He must be beating himself up over this whole thing.

"I tried." Rocky replied, making a face as he glanced over at Billy. "I've been having nightmares. This is all my fault. There's no way I'm getting any sleep until we find them."

"Do not blame yourself Rocky." Zordon quickly stepped in to try and help the blue ranger. "You were surrounded by Cogs. It was impossible for you to get to Carri and Jason in time." It was not going to do him any good to stress out about this.

Rocky simply shook his head. "I should have been able to break free and help them." He appreciated what Zordon was saying but he didn't agree.

"It's not your fault." Billy assured him. Rocky looked like he was going to protest and the former ranger continued. "I know wherever they are Carri and Jason aren't blaming you. You shouldn't blame yourself."

"I'm not going to feel any better until they've been found." Rocky said with a frown. He hadn't thought much about Carri and Jason blaming him. Hating him was one more thing for them to bond over. If he could have saved Carri, they would both be home in bed right now.

"We've gone through three dimensions with no luck." Billy quickly filled him in on their progress. When Rocky looked discouraged he continued. "Searching a dimension is a long process; it takes a while to go through each one."

"How can I help?" Rocky asked. This was what he got out of bed for, and it was the only thing that was going to keep him sane.

"If there was anything you could do to speed up the process I'd let you do it." Billy promised him. The process now was mostly the computers running and there was nothing anyone could do for that. "There's nothing for you here. Go home, at least try to get some sleep."

"Fine." Rocky grumbled. Maybe he would go home and watch TV or something. He didn't want to sleep; he did not want to have any more of those nightmares. "I'll go home." He said with a sigh before teleporting out.

Once Rocky was gone Billy turned his attention back toward Alpha, and the duo continued to watch the scans take place, hoping for a positive result.

* * *

Carri sauntered into Miss Appleby's class the next day right before the bell rang. Before she could take a seat, Miss Appleby motioned for her to come up to the front of the class. She smiled at her teacher who introduced her to everyone. "Class I'd like for you to meet Carri Hillard. She comes to us from New York. Let's give her a warm Angel Grove High welcome."

Carri smiled at the class as they clapped for her, pausing to make brief eye contact with Tommy, the only student not interested in the new girl. Once Miss Appleby let her go, she walked over to him and looked at the empty seat beside of him. "Mind if I sit here?" she asked smiling sweetly at him.

"You don't have to ask my permission." Tommy replied with a cold tone unlike anything she had ever heard from their leader.

With the smile still on her face she sat and pretended to be interested as class began. What she was really interested in was Tommy, who she spent the entire time trying to decide if he was the evil green ranger or not. By the end of class, she was pretty sure the answer was yes.

There was the obvious sign, him wearing green and dressing the part. She could tell he was focusing on something, but from his lack of note taking it definitely wasn't school related. Jason was right about his eyes, there was a look that she had never seen in Tommy before, one that didn't give her warm and fuzzy feelings. She tried to look in his backpack and she was pretty sure she saw a gold coin although she couldn't be certain.

Once the bell rang for class to be over Tommy turned toward her. "I saw you staring at me during class." He spoke quickly. He was not sure what to think of the new girl's eyes on him. "I want an explanation."

Carri sat up and tilted her head, smiling at him as she pulled from everything about acting she knew. "You are absolutely gorgeous, your eyes, those muscles, that hair…" She said in the sexiest tone she could come up with. "I was hoping we could hook up after class." She finished all but throwing herself at Tommy.

Tommy looked her over. There was no denying the fact that she was hot. And she obviously wanted him. "Meet me out front after the bell rings. We'll go out then." Tommy said as he stood.

"See you then." Carri replied, blowing him a kiss as he walked away. Once he was gone, she sighed and stood as well. At least she could put her acting knowledge to good use.

* * *

After the final bell rang, Carri met Tommy in front of the school building. He roughly took her hand in his and he led her in the direction of the Youth Center. Jason noticed them as soon as they entered, Tommy looking like a gang leader and Carri looking like his tramp. He tried not to laugh as Tommy approached him.

"I thought you were out of town." Tommy said as he looked at Jason. Of course, he knew good and well this wasn't the Jason of his world.

"I came home early." Jason said simply as he made eye contact with him.

"Good for you." Tommy replied before leading Carri away. That was easy enough. One of the new rangers was black, and there was suddenly a Jason in town who was also wearing black. One ranger identity down, one to go. With a smile, he sat down at a table and pulled Carri down with him.

Carri thought for a moment. She hated playing the role of Tommy's girlfriend. Not that she was disgusted by Tommy, but it just wasn't right. She wanted to steer the conversation toward something that would give her a more definite clue to whether or not he was evil. Pushing away all the thoughts of why she should not do this, she leaned in toward him and smiled up at him before taking her fingers and tracing them over his biceps. "You must work out a lot."

"I do." Tommy said with a smile as he looked down at her. He liked all the attention that she was giving him.

"Are you a fighter?" she questioned. Maybe if she could get him talking about why he was muscular she would get something out of him.

"I do whatever it takes to take the opponent down." Tommy said as he caught her eyes. Before she could respond, something outside the window caught his attention. "I need to leave." He grabbed a napkin, scribbled something on it, and shoved it into her hand. "Meet me here later. We'll hang out then." He said before planting a kiss on her lips.

She watched him as he stood and headed outside. Once he was gone, she went and joined Jason. "I swear if any of this ever, ever leaves this dimension I am going to kill you." She spoke firmly as she glared at Jason. She felt like she was cheating on Rocky. However, she had no interest in Tommy, and she had to keep telling herself she was taking one for the team. It was like a play where you had to kiss the male lead, assuming of course that you weren't already dating the male lead.

Jason chuckled. He was not going to be the one to tell Rocky that Carri was pretending to date an evil Tommy for information. He had seen how jealous the blue ranger got; he was not going to add anything unnecessarily.

Carri rolled her eyes as Jason laughed, and then she moved on. "I think he's our guy. The way he talks, his eyes, I feel like I'm standing in front of Mondo himself."

"I know he's our guy." Jason replied. He had watched Tommy as much as he could. The way he was acting, it all made sense. He was Rita's evil green ranger.

Carri gave Jason a nod. "Let's go fill Zordon in." She said as she stood. He stood right after her and the duo went off to find a safe place to teleport.

* * *

As soon as they got to the Command Center, they filled Zordon in on their day. Their mentor listened carefully and thought for a moment before replying. "You are sure it is Tommy?"

"Positive. All I needed was to see him once." Jason assured their mentor. "And if Carri saw a gold coin, there's only one thing that could be." He added. There was no way to doubt the Green Ranger's identity.

"In that case rangers, I believe you should talk to Tommy and try to bring his good side out." Zordon suggested. A lot of spells to make people evil could be changed by reminding them who they were. He doubted Tommy would be any different.

Before the rangers could reply, the alarms went off and their attention went to the Viewing Globe. "The Green Ranger has brought some putties for an attack on Angel Grove." Alpha filled them in.

Jason glanced briefly toward Carri, who nodded. "It's morphin time!" Jason yelled, and seconds later the Yellow and Gold Rangers teleporting to the scene.

* * *

"Anything yet?" Adam asked as he and Tommy teleported to the Power Chamber as soon as class was over. They had all been worried about their friends all day. He doubted anyone really concentrated on school.

"Not yet." Billy replied, watching, as both rangers looked somewhat defeated. This process was taking a while and although he knew the odds, he was hoping to have results by now.

Kat and Rocky teleported in next and Billy gave them the same news he had given the other two rangers. Kat sighed. "I hope we find them soon." She said. There were several reasons for that, the first of which was she wanted her cousin and her friend home safe and sound. The second reason she voiced to the others. "I'm tired of the questions. I don't know what to say to anyone. I had a tabloid reporter try to bang the door down. I had to call the police to get him to leave."

Adam shook his head. "The sooner we get them back, the better." He hoped that there was some way that Zordon could cover this whole thing up once they returned home.

"I just hope they're alright." Rocky said with a frown. "I'll never forgive myself if something happens to them." He added. If he lost her forever because he couldn't save her… well he was not sure what he would do.

"I'm sure they're fine." Tommy tried to reassure him. Jason was an excellent ranger and Carri was quickly coming into her own. Between the two of them, he felt confident they could handle whatever they faced. He had to think that way; he would go crazy if he didn't.

"Yeah and if." Kat stopped short when the alarm went off.

"Louie Kaboom has sent a monster to Angel Grove. You must teleport immediately." Alpha quickly filled him in on the situation.

"Right." Tommy said as they shifted to a morphing stance. "It's morphin time!"

"Zeo ranger one, pink!"

"Zeo ranger three, blue!"

"Zeo ranger four, green!"

"Zeo ranger five, red!"

* * *

"Hello Tommy." Jason immediately greeted the green ranger once he and Carri arrived at the fight. He wanted him to know that he was not going to have the identity advantage on him. He watched Carri slip off to fight the putties that were attacking while he faced off against Tommy.

"Jason." Tommy said simply, nodding in his direction. "I'm impressed that you figured out who I was. The Jason of this world had more time and he never did figure it out."

"And you know who I am." Jason replied, although he assumed it was not difficult to figure it out.

"I saw you in the Youth Center." Tommy offered his explanation before looking over toward the Yellow Ranger. "Now I just need to figure out who your little friend is."

Jason smiled from behind his helmet. "That's our secret." He said before running to attack.

The battle became intense quickly as both Tommy and Jason were fighting fiercely. For the most part, they were an even match, but in the end, Jason's Gold Ranger powers gave him a slight edge. Jason flung Tommy off of him and the green ranger glared at him. "I'm impressed. The Jason of this world was no match for me."

"I don't want to fight you Tommy." Jason said as he faced him. He couldn't help but wonder if the Jason on this world was or would have been friends with his Tommy. Even though this wasn't the Tommy he knew, it was still hard to fight his best friend.

"Looks like you don't have a choice." Tommy quickly pointed out. It seemed as though this Jason might get sentimental. That would make his downfall quite easy.

"You're not evil. Rita made you that way. You have to fight her spell." Jason tried Zordon's method of convincing him that he was fighting on the wrong side.

"I'm evil because I like it." Tommy replied with a smile before he ran and jumped at Jason, knocking him down. As Jason hit the ground, Tommy caught a glimpse of the Yellow Ranger who was in the middle of a group of putties. He tore off in her direction.

"Look out!" Jason yelled as he jumped to his feet.

Carri snapped her head in his direction in time to see the Green Ranger. She moved out of his path and right into the arms of some putties, who she went to work on disposing. Before Tommy could take another shot, Jason caught up to him.

"I was down and yet you went after her. Why?" Jason questioned. He wanted to know what Tommy was thinking, maybe that would help him fight the Green Ranger.

"Would you not suffer more if I killed her first and you watched?" Tommy asked, watching as Jason tensed up in his ranger uniform. He doubted that failing his teammates like that would sit lightly with any Jason. "That way you'll know you are a failure."

It took all of Jason's strength not to run after him. After all Tommy was the bad guy and he was the ranger. However, it was still Tommy. "You're not going to kill either one of us. You should give up now while you're ahead."

Tommy couldn't help but laugh. This Jason had quite a sense of humor. "I'm not giving anything up." He said once the laughter died down. "But I am going to make you wish I did."

Before they could launch into another fight, Goldar teleported down and Tommy's attention immediately turned toward him. "What are you doing here?" Tommy hissed.

"I am here to help you defeat the Power Rangers." Goldar said as he gestured toward the two rangers. He was not going to stand by and let Tommy continue to take all the glory.

"I believe I have this situation under control." Tommy said, trying his hardest to remain calm and not rip Goldar's throat out. How dare he interrupt his battle.

"You can always use my help." Goldar replied. Him helping was more of a demand on his part and he wasn't going to let Tommy reject it.

Jason watched as Tommy stepped closer toward Goldar and their argument started to intensify. He slipped away from the duo and went to help Carri finish off the remaining putties. By the time, the putties were gone, both of their opponents had taken off and Carri and Jason did the same.

* * *

"That was an easy monster." Tommy commented after the rangers teleported back to the Power Chamber. He was glad it wasn't too difficult seeing as how they were down two rangers.

Kat nodded. "It was." She agreed somewhat absentmindedly.

"Let's hope Louie Kaboom doesn't think there is anything strange about Jason and Carri missing." Billy pointed out. He wasn't sure that Louie would figure it out. He didn't seem like the brightest choice to lead the Machine Empire.

As if reading Billy's thoughts, Adam spoke. "That would be giving Louie Kaboom credit for having half a brain."

"Any luck yet?" Rocky asked, quickly changing the subject back to what he was constantly thinking about. They would worry about Louie Kaboom if the time came.

"Not yet." Billy said, watching as Rocky's expression dropped. He asked that question several times a day and Billy assured him that the minute he knew anything, he would tell him, but that didn't keep the blue ranger from asking. "I've gone through seven dimensions."

Tommy thought for a moment. Rocky was obviously down about everything that was going on. Maybe he could get his mind off of the problem at hand. "Hey Rocky, why don't we go spar." He suggested.

"I don't know." Rocky said with a frown. He kind of wanted to go, but at the same time he wanted to be nearby in case something happened.

"Don't tell me you're actually going to turn me down." Tommy said, trying his hardest to get the blue ranger to agree to spar with him. Rocky never turned him down if he was free; he was always up for the workout and the challenge.

"Fine." Rocky finally agreed. He wasn't going to back down from Tommy's challenge. Besides, it might be good for him. "Let's go to the Youth Center."

"We'll make a competition out of it." Tommy said with a smile. He watched as the idea of competition energized Rocky, and both boys teleported off.

"Shall we join them?" Kat asked as she turned toward Adam. She was only going to sit and watch, but at the very least she would be able to distract herself for a while.

"Why not." Adam replied. It was not like they could do anything for Billy. If they could, he knew the entire team would be working overtime. With a quick goodbye to the former blue ranger, Kat and Adam teleported off as well.

* * *

Rita watched as Tommy and Goldar arrived in the Lunar Palace, still arguing. "Goldar!" she yelled, immediately silencing them both.

"Yes your highness." Goldar said as he turned to face Rita.

"What do you think you're doing? Tommy had it under control and you ruined it!" She was furious. She had a good feeling that she was going to get her hands on Zeo powers and Goldar's arrival put her plans on hold, and she didn't like to wait.

"I'm sorry." Goldar grumbled his apology. He didn't think he should be sorry; he was just trying to prove his worth to her.

"Sorry doesn't cut it." Rita snapped before immediately putting her hands to her temples. "I'm beginning to get another headache." She complained before storming off.

"Now look what you've done." Tommy said, shaking his head as he left the main room as well.

Goldar simply growled at Tommy as Baboo and Squatt snickered behind him. "At least we're in good with Rita." Baboo pointed out.

"Yeah." Squatt quickly chimed in. "Unlike some other people around here."

"Were you saying something?" Goldar questioned as he turned toward them, sword in the air.

"We were just leaving." Baboo said quickly before he and Squatt shuffled off, leaving Goldar alone with his thoughts.

* * *

Zordon watched as his two rangers returned. "It appears as though Tommy is more powerful than you accounted for." He said as he looked them over.

"No, I just didn't want to hurt him." Jason quickly corrected. He could have easily taken Tommy if he had used all his powers. "I want to break him from Rita's spell. Tommy's a good person; I'm not going to kill him."

Carri agreed with Jason but she wasn't sure that task would be so easy. He didn't seem like he was responding to kind words. "So how do we save him?"

"The Sword of Darkness." Jason said simply. He could never forget that. "I have reason to believe that's what's keeping Tommy under Rita's spell."

"How can you be sure?" Alpha questioned as he approached the Gold Ranger. "Tommy hasn't ever used the Sword of Darkness."

"That's because he's had no reason to." Jason replied. If he had been destroying rangers as easily as he claims to be, he wouldn't have needed it. That is all about to change. "I'm going to have to give him a reason."

"Jason do not do anything unreasonable." Zordon warned. He could tell Jason was thinking hard about how to end this quickly. He did not want him to do anything that could get him killed.

"I won't." Jason assured him. He had a plan, at least the outline of a plan. He had to give Tommy a hard enough blow that Rita would give him the sword. It was easy enough.

Carri reached down into her pockets and her fingers brushed the napkin Tommy had given her earlier. She pulled it out and glanced at the time and location he had put on there. "I need to go if I'm going to meet Tommy."

"You don't have to pretend to date Tommy anymore." Jason quickly pointed out. He knew how uncomfortable the situation made her. They knew Tommy was the Green Ranger. She could avoid him now.

"If I stop hanging around him and hang around you, I might as well wear a sign that reads 'I'm the yellow ranger'." Carri was quick to point out. She wasn't sure if it mattered, but she wanted to keep her identity from him as long as possible. "Besides maybe I can find a way to free him from the spell."

Jason looked over at her. He really didn't like the idea at all. However, she was partially right. "Be careful." He warned. He didn't want her to be alone with Tommy. The Green Ranger had better not touch her.

"I will." She promised as she teleported out.

Jason sighed. "Do you think it's a good idea for her to spend time with Tommy?" he asked as he turned toward Zordon. He wondered if he should have asked their mentor's opinion before she left. Maybe then she wouldn't have gone.

"Perhaps spending time with someone good will, break the spell." Zordon replied. She was treading in dangerous waters but it may end up being good for Tommy. He did understand Jason's hesitation to let her go. Tommy was still dangerous.

"Do you really think that will help him?" Jason asked, regretting questioning his mentor after it was too late. "On my world the only thing that could save Tommy was destroying the Sword of Darkness." He explained his question.

"Not every world is exactly the same." Alpha pointed out. Jason should know that, after all on his home world he wasn't killed by Tommy. "Even though Tommy is the Green Ranger, that doesn't mean that he can't be brought back by good and good alone."

Jason sighed. Maybe Alpha was right. It was hard to say for sure. What he did know was that unless Carri proved him wrong, he was going to stick with what he knew. He thought about the rest of the day and he excused himself. So he wouldn't worry about her he was going to go work on some moves until Carri came back. Who knows, maybe she'll return with good news.

* * *

It was ten o'clock that night and Rocky and Tommy were still at the Youth Center sparring. Adam and Kat had left long ago, both having other things at home they needed to work on. Ernie had finally finished getting everything ready so that he could go home and he eyed the two boys who he had let stay on the mats long after the last customer left.

Ernie grabbed all of his things and picked up two bottled waters from behind the counter before heading over to the boys. He hated to kick them out, he could tell they were using this to forget about their missing friends, but he needed to close. He supposed he could let them stay for a while and lock up themselves. However, they had been going at it for a long time and he thought what was really best for them was to go home and get some rest.

"Hey guys." Ernie said as he walked over to them. Rocky and Tommy stopped and looked at him. "I'm going to lock up. I think maybe you guys should go home and get some rest." He said as he handed each of them one of the waters he had grabbed.

Tommy took the lid off his water and took a few big gulps. "Thanks Ernie for letting us stay so late. You're right; we do need to get home." His parents were probably worried about him although he did tell them that he was worrying about his two missing friends and that he was trying to take his mind off of them. He was pretty sure they were ok with that as long as he was still at the Youth Center.

Rocky gave Ernie a nod as both boys walked off the mats to gather their things. "Thanks Tommy. I needed that." Rocky said as he tossed a few items into his gym bag. It had been nice to divert his attention for a while. Plus he was worn out. He was wondering if it would be possible to get some sleep that night, although he wouldn't hold his breath.

"Anytime." Tommy said, glancing over to the blue ranger. "Although next time you need to spend your energy sparring instead of worrying, I'll let Adam volunteer." It had been a lot of fun, but he was going to feel that workout the next morning.

"What was the all powerful Rocky DeSantos too much for you?" Rocky joked as he threw his bag over his shoulder.

"Ha." Tommy said, collecting his things as well. "You just went one step too far. Next time we spar they'll be no mercy."

Tommy smiled and Rocky laughed as they followed Ernie out the door and both boys headed home for the night.

* * *

"So what's the plan for today?" Jason asked as he and Carri headed toward the school from their teleportation spot.

Carri gave him a slight shrug. She didn't really have any plans. Except to keep working on Tommy. "You and I need to stay away from each other." She reminded him. Last night went well, she didn't need Tommy finding out who she was and going bezerk.

"Why?" Jason questioned. He didn't see the need for her to continue with Tommy. She said it herself that he creped her out and she could sense how evil he was. It was hard to say if she was making a difference. Plus Tommy wanted to make out, and although Carri may have let him kiss her, Jason didn't think Tommy would let her play the hard to get act long before taking what he wanted.

"Because I'm gaining Tommy's trust." Carri replied giving her friend a look. "And he's not stupid. He'll put it together really fast if he sees us hanging out."

Jason sighed. "Do you think you're doing any good?" he asked her. This certainly was not the first time this question had come up.

"I don't know." Carri said simply as she shook her head. She was inclined to think so but there was something about Tommy. Part of her thought she might be getting through to him while part of her wondered if he was letting her think that to get to her. "There's an optimist in me somewhere that would like to say yes."

Jason chuckled as they got close to the school. He would like to say yes too but he didn't have much optimism about it either. He shook his head as the school came into view. "I guess we should split."

Carri nodded her head in agreement and the duo went their separate ways. What neither realized is it was too late they had already been spotted. Standing not too far from where they once were was Tommy, confident that he knew the identity of the yellow ranger.

* * *

Billy looked up as a blue streak came into the Power Chamber. "What are you doing here?" he asked his friend.

"I can't concentrate." Rocky replied. He had tried to listen to his teachers and do his work but it was impossible. All he could think about was finding Carri. "I might as well be here."

"You can't let your grades slip over this." Billy said sternly. He understood that he was worried, but they would find Carri and Jason and then Rocky would have to suffer the consequences of not going to class.

"Two of our teammates are gone and we can't find them. I'm not going to focus on school until they're back." It was hard not to think about it. Even if he tried to focus on class, he had several classes with Carri and her absence was a constant reminder of what happened.

"We'll find them." Billy assured him. He had no idea how he was going to convince Rocky to relax and go back to class. "It's just going to take time."

"How much time?" Rocky questioned, wanting a straightforward answer. He thought for sure they would find them by now. He was afraid of what the real answer was.

Before Billy could explain, a red streak came in and dissolved into Tommy, who immediately noted Rocky's presence. "I see I'm not the only one." He couldn't concentrate either. Something kidnapped his teammates and he had to find them and figure out what happened.

Billy sighed as he looked over at Tommy. "Guys you really should go back to class." Although he was glad for the interruption since he didn't want to answer Rocky's question.

"It's no use." Tommy said with a frown. "I didn't learn anything yesterday and I can't pay attention today either."

Billy shook his head. The two of them were being stubborn about it; there was no way he would get them to go back to class. "Come on, I'll find you something to do." He said as he gestured for Rocky and Tommy to follow him to another room in the Power Chamber.

* * *

Tommy found himself dragging Carri across campus for lunch. He didn't know why he was bothering now that he knew who she was. However, if she still wanted to play this game he would. She was cute so he might as well.

As they entered the cafeteria, they spotted Jason sitting at a table. "You again." Tommy said, stopping briefly in front of the ranger.

Jason simply nodded at him in response. He glanced at Carri and looked up at Tommy. "Who's the slut?" he asked to try and irk her more than anything. It worked; he saw the face Carri made when Tommy wasn't looking.

"Jason this is Carri." Tommy said with a smile. Jason was really going to play this one up.

"Nice to meet you." Jason said as he glanced briefly at Carri.

"Whatever." Carri replied, rolling her eyes. She was going to kill him later for the slut remark. No way was that for Tommy's benefit. "Come on Tommy let's go."

Tommy gave Jason a once over before walking off. "I'll see you later."

"You'll be seeing me until this fight is finished." Jason replied evenly as Tommy left his table. The more he saw them together the more he didn't want Tommy anywhere near her. He didn't care if he was Tommy, he was evil. Carri has no idea what he was like when he was evil.

"Fight? What fight?" she asked trying to act all innocent. She could hear Jason snicker and she wondered if Tommy did too.

Tommy put an arm around her shoulder. "Nothing for you to worry about." At least not, right now. Once he was about to kill her and Jason, then she should worry.

"You're the one who needs to worry." Jason said to himself once they were gone. He was going to break Rita's spell and save Tommy, even if he had to give him a beating in the process. With a sigh, he turned back to his lunch and tried to forget about it for the moment.

* * *

Rocky slammed his fist down on a console out of frustration. "Fifteen worlds and still nothing." It was hard to see negative result after negative result. He was ready to find them.

"We all feel your frustration, but taking it out on the equipment isn't helping any." Tommy pointed out. He probably would have slammed the equipment as well but he was trying to keep a little bit of good sense.

"I know." Rocky said with a sigh. He was angry and he wanted to express that somehow. Slamming his fist was the first thing that came to mind. "I just wanted something to take my frustration out on."

As if Louie Kaboom heard him, the alarms went off and Billy pulled up the image of a monster on the viewing screen. "It appears as though you have an outlet for your anger." Billy said, giving the blue ranger a smile.

"We're on it." Tommy said as he and Rocky shifted. "It's morphin time!"

The rangers appeared on scene and the monster looked at them skeptically. "Only two rangers?"

"I wouldn't be saying that if I was you." Tommy said with a smile. He loved it when they were underestimated.

"Oh yeah?" The monster questioned. He didn't know what two rangers thought they were going to do to him. "Why's that?"

The two rangers did not reply, they simply ran at him full force. After a fury of attacks, the monster managed to stay standing. Deciding it was time to up the ante they both regrouped and called for their power weapons. They attacked him one more time and he topped over, but managed to pull himself back up.

Tommy and Rocky stepped back once more. "Let's show him our firepower." Tommy said as he moved into position. "Zeo cannon, power up!"

It appeared in the hands of the morphed rangers and they wasted no time firing it. The blast knocked the monster off of his feet and to the ground for good. At least until Klank and Orbus made him grow.

"Don't these guys ever give up?" Rocky asked. Although he was enjoying the battle and he wouldn't mind a little zord fight.

"I'm beginning to think not." Tommy replied. Not that the bad guys ever gave up. "We need Super Zeo Zord power now!"

With Tommy's command, the blue and red Zeo Zords appeared and the rangers jumped into them. The monster looked the zords over and laughed. "You think they scare me?"

"We'll see about that." Rocky said as both he and Tommy fired on the monster. The monster quickly fell down again, this time for good.

Once the battle was over the rangers returned to the Power Chamber. "Feeling better Rocky?" Billy asked as he glanced toward the blue ranger. Hopefully he worked some of his frustration out.

"You mean now that I've gotten the chance to beat up a bad guy?" Rocky questioned with a smile. Billy nodded and he continued. "A little bit." He wouldn't feel completely better until Carri and Jason were home.

"Good." Billy said with a smile. Now maybe he would be a little less anxious. "We've got work to do. I have a feeling we're getting close." Billy said as he gathered the rangers and went back to their search.

* * *

After school let out Jason and Carri met up at what they hoped was a safe distance away from the building. Jason was quick to notice that Carri was spaced out. "You look way out there." He commented as they continued to walk.

"I was just thinking." She said with a shrug. She smiled to herself as she realized this was how her last conversation with Rocky started. She missed him.

"About home?" Jason asked, hoping he would prompt her to fill him in. He was pretty sure she would, they were both really good about telling each other what was on their minds.

"No." Carri replied. It was odd, besides that brief thought she hadn't really thought much about home. She was too focused on the problem in front of them. "About Tommy, I feel bad about stringing him along. He looks like our Tommy. But then again when I look into his eyes he scares me."

"I know." Jason replied. He knew that well before this whole thing started but Carri was experiencing it for the first time. "That's what our Tommy looked like when he was the evil Green Ranger."

Carri sighed. It was hard to think of their Tommy evil like that. Before she could say anything Jason stopped and she realized they were at their teleportation spot. Jason looked over at her. He could tell she was working on something to say. "We'll talk later." He promised. She nodded and they both quickly teleported away.

Alpha immediately greeted them when they reached the Command Center. "Rangers I am glad you are back."

"Why, what's going on?" Jason asked. Alpha was usually happy to see him, but the way the little robot was bouncing around, something was up.

"Jason it appears as though you were right." Zordon said as all eyes turned toward him. "We have located the Sword of Darkness."

"Where is it?" Jason asked, wondering if he could easily end this. "We can go destroy it."

"It is in the Lunar Palace and is heavily guarded." Alpha replied. There was no way the rangers were going to get to it, not without getting themselves injured or worse.

"Right." Carri said giving the little robot a nod. "So maybe we won't go after it. We'll just have to take it to Tommy and give him a reason to need the sword." She was all about going in kicking butt and taking names, but even she wasn't suicidal.

"There's no time for that." Jason said. Things could get worse. He didn't want to risk it. "I have to go destroy it."

"That would not be wise." Zordon said simply. He thought about ordering the ranger not to go but this was not his ranger and he was not his Zordon. He doubted this Jason would be inclined to obey him.

"This is my call and I'm going." Jason replied, the tone of his voice indicating that the decision was final.

"Aye ai ai!" Alpha exclaimed. They could not let this ranger run off to the Lunar Palace. "There are too many guards. You'll almost certainly be killed going after it."

"That's a risk I'm going to have to take." Jason replied. This was still Rita and the Lunar Palace. He was the Gold Ranger now, how hard could it be?

Carri stepped in front of him and put a hand on his chest. "No." She said sternly as if that was going to deter him. "We're going to do this my way. All it will take is one good win against Tommy for Rita to give him that sword."

"I'm not going to sit around and wait!" Jason yelled, immediately sorry for screaming at her like that. However, this was something he had to do. She needed to understand that.

"Dammit Jason I am not going to sit around while one of my best friends goes on a suicide mission." Carri said with a growl. And by not sit around she meant if he went anyway she was going to follow him. There was no way she was letting him do this without backup. "Do it my way for me." She hoped their bond was enough. She could see him hesitate but he was still determined. "If not for me do it for Emily."

At the mention of Emily's name Jason was silent. He let his muscles relax and Carri could tell he was caving. "Fine." He grumbled. "I'll do it your way."

"Thank you." Carri said with a smile as she let her arm drop. A silence fell and she decided they needed to get out of there for a while. "I'm going for a walk. You want to join?"

"Sure, we'll walk." Jason replied. It would be good for him to step back for a bit. With that the duo teleported out, leaving Alpha and Zordon alone.

* * *

Kat and Adam had been sitting in the Youth Center ever since school let out, waiting for Rocky and Tommy. Adam looked around hoping that his friends would show up soon. "I wonder where they are." He said as he glanced over at Kat. "I haven't seen either of them all day."

Kat nodded. She had classes with them and they hadn't been there. "I hope they're ok."

"It's not like them to skip school." Adam said as he thought aloud.

"I'm sure they're just worried, and stressed out." Kat pointed out, trying to make herself feel better more than anything. There was a lot to be worried about maybe they needed a break.

"And you're not?" Adam questioned. He knew Kat had to be devastated but she had been holding it together pretty well. At least on the outside.

"Not as much as they are." Kat replied softly as she looked down at the table.

"Are you sure?" Adam asked. He didn't want to push it with her, but her response indicated that she was not ok. "Your cousin is missing and you can honestly say you're alright?"

"I…" Kat let her voice trail off as a tear slid down her face. She was trying really hard not to think about it. "I'm trying to be strong for the team. It has gotten to Rocky enough for all of us."

Adam scooted over and put an arm around his friend. "You don't have to be strong." He assured her as more tears started to slip down her face. "It's ok to cry. It might make you feel better."

Kat looked as though she was going to crumble apart, but before the tears really started flowing Tommy and Rocky walked in. She tried to pull herself back together as she greeted them. "Where have you guys been all day?" she asked as she perked up somewhat.

"Helping with the search." Tommy replied as he looked them over. He hoped that someone on his team had somewhat of a good day.

"Any luck?" Adam asked, watching as they both shook their heads no. He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Hopefully it will be soon." They desperately needed to get their two teammates back. He watched as Rocky gave him a nod. His best friend was still down. He knew what helped him yesterday; maybe it would help him today. "Want to spar?"

Tommy and Rocky looked at each other and nodded. "Why not." Rocky replied. They waited for Adam to stand than the three boys walked off. Kat turned toward the mats and waited for them to get started, hoping that this would take their minds off of everything for a while.

* * *

It was a little past eleven and Jason looked over as Carri sat on her cot and yawned and stretched. "I'm surprised Tommy hasn't attacked today." He commented.

She rolled her eyes. "Today's not over for another hour. You wait." She was pretty sure he just jinxed them. If she didn't know better she'd think that the bad guys watched them and when they said something about not being attacked it was a reminder to attack.

"You really think he'll attack this late?" Jason questioned. Not that there was any rule on attack times, he just figured Tommy wouldn't bother now.

"Are you asking if evil Tommy cares if we want to go to bed or not?" Carri questioned raising an eyebrow. Evil could care less. She had been called to duty at all hours.

"Even evil Tommy is going to want to go to bed sometime." Jason pointed out. He was still human no matter how evil he was.

When the alarm went off Carri looked over and stuck her tongue out at Jason. "Never comment on the lack of an attack." She said with a smile. She loved being right.

"Yeah, yeah." Jason said brushing her off as they both jumped to their feet. "It's morphin time!"

As they arrived in the park, Tommy immediately greeted them. "Jason, Carri, how nice of you to come."

Carri was a bit taken back. She thought she had done a good job at keeping her secret. "How did you."

Tommy quickly cut her off. "Nevermind the how. Just know that I did." Hearing how surprised she was made his night worthwhile. He only wished he could have seen her face. He thought about holding on to this information, seeing how far he could get with her, but he was much more interested in the fight than trying to get sex.

Jason glared at Tommy, speaking before Carri could say anything else. "I think it's time to get down to business." No sense stressing over what Tommy knew. They had a mission to accomplish.

"Fine. If that's the way you want it." Tommy said with a smile. It was the way he wanted it and he was going to fight them with or without Jason's invitation. However, if this Jason was anything like his own, he wouldn't back down. Wasting no time, he ran into battle with the Gold and Yellow Rangers.

Jason and Carri tried to bring Tommy down without hurting him but they were not having any luck. He was a strong ranger and the only way to stop him was to hit him hard. Carri got thrown back and she stood up, deciding that she'd had enough. "This is for your own good." She said as Jason ended up on the ground beside of her.

"What are you going to do?" Jason asked. He didn't want to hurt Tommy, but it was looking as though they were going to have too.

"This. Zeo two, power kick!" she yelled, and with one swift motion she went flying through the air, issuing the kick to Tommy's chest and sending him flying backwards.

"You'll pay for that." Tommy growled, glaring at her as he stood. No ranger hit him like that and he certainly was not going to let her live to tell about it.

"You won't touch her." Jason promised him as he executed one of his own moves on Tommy. Carri moved to Jason's side as Tommy flew back over. She was ready to hit him again.

Tommy grunted as he stood. Now he was really angry. They were strong, stronger than he had given them credit for. He was going to have to think about that. "Not tonight." He replied as he looked at Jason and Carri. "But I'll be back for her. Then you can watch me kill her, destroy Zordon and his Command Center, all before you take your final breath."

Jason clinched his fists as Tommy disappeared. Carri reached out and grabbed his arm. "He's gone Jase." She reminded him. She waited until the Gold Ranger relaxed before she continued. "Come on, let's go back and get some rest." She waited for Jason to acknowledge her and the duo teleported back to the Command Center.

* * *

Later that night Jason awoke to find himself somewhere besides his cot in the Command Center. At first, he was not sure where he was taken. However, as he got to look around, the realization hit him. He was in one of Rita's Dark Dimensions.

"What am I doing here?" he questioned, not sure if there was anyone there to answer him.

"You have been brought here to fight me." A voice said from behind him.

Jason recognized the voice. He turned to see that his suspicions were right; it was the Green Ranger standing behind him. "You won't get away with this." He promised as Tommy laughed. "My friends will rescue me." He knew Carri would not leave him here. She would work with Alpha and Zordon nonstop to rescue him.

"Your friends?" Tommy asked, the amusement evident in his voice. "Would you like to see your friends?" He then turned and made a motion with his hands, which revealed some sort of screen that allowed Jason to see the Command Center.

What Jason saw was worse than anything he could ever imagine. His chest felt tight and the rest of his body went numb. This simply could not be happening. The first thing his eyes came across was the two cots. His was empty and Carri lay in hers, a knife sticking out from her heart. From the amount of blood puddled underneath her he assumed she had bled out a while ago.

The control panels were yanked out with wires everywhere. This was similar to Alpha's position, as his back panel was torn off and wires had been yanked out and discarded. The last thing he saw was Zordon's tube. It was crushed and Tommy had fixed it so that their mentor was lost forever.

When the feeling started to come back there was nothing there but rage. "What have you done?" he spat as he glared at Tommy.

"That's not even the best part." Tommy said with a laugh as he reached to his side and grabbed his Dragon Dagger. "Watch this."

Tommy played a tune that Jason had heard so many times before during his days as a red ranger. Seconds later the scene in front of him started to change. Everything shook as bits and pieces of the Command Center fell on what was left of his friends. Finally, the whole thing collapsed upon itself, and standing over the ruins victorious was Dragonzord.

"No!" Jason yelled, horrified at what just happened. He wanted to do something but he knew the truth. They were gone nothing would help them now.

"It is too late for them Jason." Tommy said, smiling wickedly from beneath his helmet. "Now you must fight me."

Jason pulled together all the strength he could. "With pleasure." He replied. Tommy would pay for what he did. "It's morphin time! Gold ranger power!"

The second the morphed ranger appeared Tommy ran to attack him. The fight was nothing but a fistfight at first, and Tommy seemed to be winning. He threw Jason back and Jason hit the wall hard. Tommy looked at him and smiled, reaching for a knife. "It's your turn to die." He said as he ran toward him.

"I will not let you do this!" Jason yelled as he grabbed his power staff. "It's time for a Gold Rush!" he cried out as he ran toward Tommy.

The Gold Rush hit the Green Ranger like a ton of bricks. A jolt of energy shot through him, and he shook violently for a few seconds before collapsing to the ground and powering down. Jason powered down as well and went to his side. When he looked at the man he attacked, he was no longer Tommy the Green Ranger. He was Tommy the red ranger, his best friend whom he had left behind in another world.

Tommy reached up and put a hand on his shoulder. "You killed me bro." He said the hand falling down as the last of his life force slipped away.

"What have I done?" Jason asked in a whisper. This could not happen it was impossible. He had just killed his best friend. "No!"

He didn't think the pain could get any worse. He cursed anyone who would listen, and just when he thought he couldn't take it anymore the world around him faded away.

It was then that Jason's eyes snapped open and he awoke in a cold sweat. He set straight up in his cot and immediately went to check on everyone. Carri was still asleep on the cot beside of him. Alpha was in sleep mode in the corner. Zordon's tube was empty, but he tended to be scarce at night. The Command Center was thankfully in one piece.

Jason walked over to one of the panels and pressed a button. A few seconds later a bottle of water appeared. He pulled the cap off and started to chug it while he worked on making sense of his dream. He was almost afraid to go back to sleep, even though it was only a dream and it would not come true.

Once he finished the water, he went and lay back down. He closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep, but his dream haunted him for the rest of the night.

* * *

The next morning Carri woke up and stretched, glancing over toward Jason as she did. "Someone didn't get much sleep last night." She commented. The circles under his eyes gave him away. Jason must have had a rough night.

"I had nightmares all night." Jason replied. He hoped she wouldn't ask about what, he didn't want to go into any detail. How would he tell Carri he dreamed about Tommy killing her, about him killing Tommy? He didn't want her to have those disturbing mental images to deal with.

"About what?" she questioned. Although she supposed it was probably self-explanatory.

Jason shook his head. He was hoping he could get away with not telling her. "Take a guess." He said, figuring she had a pretty good idea of what it was already.

Carri frowned. "The sooner we help this world and get back to ours the better." She was not going to admit that Tommy haunted her dreams last night as well. Jason had enough of his own nightmares to think about.

"I agree." Jason replied as he thought about it. "We might as well not go to school today. We only went yesterday to keep up appearances with Tommy and he knows now." He really didn't want to have to pretend to be civil with the Green Ranger at school.

"I want to go." Carri said. She never thought she would hear herself say that about school. However, they needed some sort of distraction from everything else. "I don't want to sit around here all day and wait for Tommy to attack."

Jason sighed. He didn't know if he wanted to go but he agreed with her logic. "Fine. Let's get ready."

"Good." Carri said. She and Jason headed off to use the things Zordon had gathered for them so they could get ready to take off for school.

* * *

"Thanks for your help Kat." Billy said as the pink ranger smiled and leaned against one of the consoles. "But you really should have gotten some sleep last night." She had bags under her eyes from her night in the Power Chamber.

"I know." Kat replied. However, she wanted to help as much as the boys did. She wanted to try to keep up her normal life during the day and she spent most of her time at night worrying so she figured why not spend her night helping. "It was better than laying in bed thinking about sleep though."

"I suppose you're right." Billy said with a sigh. Kat said goodbye and teleported out as Rocky and Tommy teleported in. Billy frowned. At least Kat was going to class. "Again?" Billy questioned. He hated them missing this much school.

Rocky shrugged. "What can we say, we feel useful here." He was coping much better by being in the Power Chamber rather than sitting in class.

"You know you're missing a lot of school for this." Billy reminded them. They were going to have to deal with the consequences of their actions.

"And Carri and Jason aren't?" Tommy questioned. He didn't see where it mattered that they were missing school as well.

"Point gotten." Billy said with a sigh. "I have a feeling today will be the day." At least he certainly hoped it was.

Rocky nodded in Billy's direction and he couldn't help but cross his fingers. "I hope so."

"We all do." Tommy replied. Nothing would be better than to bring their two lost teammates home today.

* * *

Tommy walked in to the cafeteria and made it a point to swing by Jason and Carri's lunch table. "Look at who we have here." He said snidely.

"Hello Tommy." Jason replied, his jaw set as he glanced up at Rita's evil ranger. So far they had gone through school without Tommy making a scene, he didn't think he was going to start now but he always worried when he approached.

"You're not hanging all over me today." Tommy said as he reached down and put a hand to Carri's cheek. She quickly smacked it away and he chuckled. "I wonder why that is."

"Oh I don't know." Carri said, her words dripping with sarcasm as she glared at him. She had to try to avoid the obvious add in while in the cafeteria, that maybe it was because he was evil and tried to kill her. She tended to disapprove of that kind of behavior.

"You'll pay for your disloyalty." Tommy said smoothly as he smiled at her. They would both pay for their actions soon enough.

"You're going to fall." Jason said as Tommy glared down at him. Jason smiled and continued. "You're going to fall hard and you're going to fall fast and I'm going to be right there to make it happen." Egging on Tommy was probably not a good idea but he hated that he was so cocky about the situation.

Tommy didn't reply, he simply grunted and took off. Once he was gone, both rangers relaxed and started a conversation. "Do you think he's getting it?" Carri asked, hoping that Jason would get that she was referencing the Sword of Darkness.

"I know he is." Jason replied. Last night showed that they could hurt Tommy and that showed his weakness. Rita wouldn't tolerate her star pupil having a weakness. "We showed him pretty good yesterday."

"Showed him what?" Carri questioned as she raised an eyebrow. "That we could kick his ass if we wanted to?" She couldn't help but grin. She knew that she had never one up the Tommy she knew in battle. However, she had an advantage over this Tommy. He didn't know her and he didn't know what Zeo rangers could do.

"That's what Rita wanted to see." Jason replied. He couldn't help but notice her amusement. He wondered briefly what it was for but then he brushed it off.

"I hope you're right." Carri said. She wanted him to get the sword so they could destroy it and free him. Otherwise, she was going to seriously consider Jason's break into the Lunar Palace plan. She was ready to get this over with.

"Me? Wrong? Never happens." Jason said, giving her a sly smile as he sat back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest.

Carri snorted as she leaned back as well. "Please." She said as she grinned at him. "I could start naming things if I wanted to but I wanted to try and eat lunch before our half hour was up."

"Now you've gone and hurt my feelings." Jason replied with a frown. She rolled her eyes and he tried not to laugh. He was doing a good job at keeping the frown on his face.

"Poor baby." Carri said, shaking her head as she sat up and started to work on her lunch.

Jason snickered at her lack of concern as he leaned in toward the table as well. He briefly made eye contact with her, they both laughed before turning toward their lunches and trying to get a few bites in between conversation before the bell rang.

* * *

Tommy used the remainder of his lunch period to go see Rita. He was furious at the night before and he wanted to assure her that it would not happen again. "Hello Rita." He said, bowing toward her as he approached. "This afternoon I will attack and destroy those rangers."

Rita glared at him. These rangers were turning out to be harder to defeat than she had anticipated. "You got kicked around pretty good yesterday."

"I won't let it happen again." Tommy vowed. He was embarrassed and he was going to humiliate them as he killed them slowly.

"Just in case, here." Rita said, holding her hand out. The Sword of Darkness materialized and she motioned for Tommy to take it. "Use this. You should finish them off easily."

"Yes Rita." He said, giving her a quick bow before he took off.

* * *

Billy stood and rubbed his eyes. That couldn't be right; he had to be imagining things. He looked at the results once more and he smiled. "I've got it!" he exclaimed.

"You got it?" Rocky asked, feeling excited for the first time in days. "You mean it, it? As in their location?" What a relief. Hopefully they were safe and sound and they could bring them back and move on.

"Yes." Billy said, moving swiftly. He was recalibrating their viewing equipment to peak into the other world. They couldn't get in just yet but they could watch. "I'm pulling them up on the screen now."

The two rangers turned to look. Both let out a sigh of relief when they saw that their friends were walking through the park and appeared to be all right. Billy smiled at the sight and turned toward the others. "I'll contact Kat and Adam." He said as he headed toward one of the consoles.

A few moments later the remaining two rangers appeared. "You found them!" Kat exclaimed as she immediately turned toward the image they were watching. "Can we get to them?"

"It's going to take me a while but we'll be able to rescue them." Billy replied. He was surprised when Kat turned and gave him a hug. He returned her embrace before getting back to work.

"That's great." Adam said. Besides missing his friends, they needed to get back so that things could go back to normal and so that they wouldn't have to worry about Louie Kaboom's attacks.

"For now you can keep an eye on them through the screen." Billy said as he gestured toward it. Kat and Adam turned back to watch just in time to see the look of horror cross Tommy's face.

Tommy saw himself, slightly younger and wearing green, approach Jason and Carri. He and Jason started circling each other, apparently having a fight. As Tommy walked by Carri he issued a cheap shot, and she flew backwards, landing on her back. Then Jason charged him and he kicked Jason in the stomach, sending him backwards as well.

Tommy sucked in his breath as the Tommy on screen smirked at the duo, reaching behind his back while they picked themselves up. He could see the gold coin, and seconds later, the Green Ranger was standing in his place. Then he quickly went to attack his defenseless teammates.

* * *

"Watch out!" Jason called out toward Carri as Tommy charged her.

Carri tried to call on her Zeonizers but there was no time. Tommy was on top of her and he was swinging the Sword of Darkness. She tried to move out of the way but could not avoid the blade as it slid across her arm. "Shit!" she swore as blood started oozing out of the cut.

Tommy laughed at her as he twirled the sword around. This was going to be too easy. He went to finish her off but much to his surprise, Jason jumped onto his back and pulled him down. "I will not let you do this!" Jason yelled. It was as though his nightmare was coming back to life. However, this was not his Tommy and this Tommy was evil. He would kill Tommy to protect his teammate if he had no other choice.

"You can't stop me." Tommy said with a snarl as he threw Jason off of him.

Carri ran over to Jason and helped him up. Jason took a second to glance at the cut on her arm. It was bleeding pretty badly, but he was pretty sure it would heal itself when she morphed. "Let's do this. It's morphin time!"

Before either of them could get very far, Tommy came over and kicked them both down. "Do you honestly think I'm stupid enough to let you morph?"

Jason looked over at Carri. She needed to morph first since she was already injured. If he could distract Tommy, she could get the chance. "Morph." He whispered as he ran out and tackled the Green Ranger, quickly rolling off of him and pulling his attention toward him.

"You can't stop me without your powers." Tommy quickly pointed out. He doubted he could stop him with his powers. This was going to be too much fun.

"It won't be too hard." Jason assured him, although he knew the chances of him winning a fight against a morphed ranger when he wasn't morphed were slim to none. He had to try to avoid Tommy until Carri morphed.

Tommy laughed as he ran to attack Jason, who immediately moved out of the way. He went to attack again and Jason moved once more. "You know you're never going to even get a punch in at that rate." It wasn't going to be any fun if Jason did not at least try to fight back.

Gripping the Sword of Darkness tightly, Tommy ran toward him once more. This time Jason stood firm. Tommy laughed. Maybe he had guts after all. As he approached Jason, from out of nowhere a white boot came flying toward him, hitting him square on.

"Miss me?" Carri asked, cocking her head and grinning at the Green Ranger. She watched as Jason slipped off and she worked to keep Tommy's focus.

"And here I was hoping that I'd cut you well enough that you'd bleed to death." Tommy said with a sigh. Then again, what was there to be disappointed about? The more damage he got to do, the more fun it was.

"Sorry to disappoint." Carri said as she unleashed a fury of attacks on the Green Ranger. Once she finished Tommy staggered back, looking up to see that the Gold Ranger had joined his yellow friend.

"This is the end of the line Tommy." Jason said as he faced off against the Green Ranger. He had the sword that was the most important thing. Now to destroy it and save him.

Tommy glared at him from behind his helmet. He let himself get distracted and they both got to morph. No matter, he would kill them both anyway. "Maybe for you." He said as he lifted the sword high into the air.

Quickly he ran toward the duo, fighting them both at the same time. He was able to easily hold them off and kick them back. They didn't know who they were messing with. Tommy was going to kill them both easily.

What Tommy didn't know was that they were taking it easy on him so they wouldn't hurt him. However, they had to do something to change the way the battle was going. "We've got to get that sword away from him." Jason said as he glanced over toward Carri.

"Why?" Carri asked. She could think of a list of reasons why he shouldn't have the sword, but it was obvious that Jason had a plan and she was curious as to what it was.

"If we can get it away from him I'll show you." Jason said as he turned toward her, flashing her a smile that he realized she couldn't see. If they could separate it from Tommy, he could destroy it easily.

"Easy enough." Carri said with a shrug. She pulled her Zeo Pistol out and approached Tommy, who was standing there pointing his sword at her. He cocked his head at her curiously and she pulled the trigger, hitting his hand and causing him to drop the sword, before shooting him so that he would stumble backwards.

Before Tommy got a chance to get back and pick it up so that he could get payback against Carri, Jason was in motion. He had his power staff ready to go and the moment the sword hit the ground he called for a Gold Rush. He made contact with the sword and in a flash of light, the sword was gone and Tommy collapsed to the ground.

Jason went to stand beside Carri, who glanced up at him. "Is it over?" she asked, seriously hoping the answer was yes. She was through fighting the evil Green Ranger. It was hard fighting Tommy, even if he was not the one she knew.

"Not yet rangers." A voice growled from behind them.

Jason and Carri turned to see Goldar, some putties and a monster waiting for them. "Then we'll finish it." Jason said as he and Carri shifted into fighting stance. He and Carri went into immediate action against the putties. They were an easy opponent, and the duo quickly found themselves faced with Goldar and the monster.

At some point during the battle Goldar backed off for reasons they couldn't figure out, and left them with the monster. Neither had a chance to follow Goldar as they had to worry about the monster attacking them. After a few minutes they were winning, and that was when Goldar ran to attack. Much to their surprise the Green Ranger stopped him.

"You should never have messed with me." Tommy said as he stood strong against Goldar. He was a mess right now but he knew one thing. He still had these powers and he could use them for good, to help correct some of the damage he has done.

Goldar glanced at the newly transformed ranger. "Rita's not finished with you yet." He growled.

"Yes she is." Tommy said simply as he ran to meet Goldar in battle.

With Goldar out of the way, Jason and Carri went back to facing off against the monster. They were obviously stronger than Finster's creation, and disgusted with the way things were going Rita made him grow.

Jason looked up at the monster before glancing over at Tommy, who was evenly matched with Goldar. "You go give him a hand. This guy's a piece of cake." Carri said, quickly waving Jason off. "I need Dinozord power now!"

The Gold Ranger watched as she jumped into the Sabertooth Tiger Dinozord before turning his attention toward Goldar. The monkey looked at the rangers and snarled. "Two rangers?" he questioned, wondering what the best way to take them both out would be.

"You're going to have to deal with both of us." Jason said as he prepared to rush him.

Goldar thought for a moment. This was all a wash as of right now. The precious Green Ranger was good, the monster was going to lose, and Rita was going to be furious. His best move was to go back and regroup. "I'll be back for you." He promised as he left.

Tommy glanced up at the Zord battle. "I have one more thing to take care of." He said as he reached for the Dragon Dagger. He played a familiar tune, and seconds later the Dragonzord appeared and went to assist Carri. Between the two Zords they brought the monster down easily. With the battle over, all three rangers were teleported to the Command Center.

When they arrived, Jason and Carri powered down while Tommy pulled his helmet off and looked down at the floor in shame. "I killed them. All of them." He paused as it sunk in. He could not believe what he had done. That was the first thing that hit him when he was broken from the spell. "Jason, Kim, Trini, Billy, Zack, the others… I tried to kill the two of you." He was ashamed of what he was forced to do and he was angry that it happened.

Zordon looked at the young man in front of him. This was going to be hard for him to cope with. However, he was strong, and with help one day he would be able to get over it. "What you were doing was not you. It was because of Rita's spell."

Tommy shook his head. "They still all died by my hands." He should have been stronger, should have been able to fight the spell. He powered down and reached in his pocket, retrieving his power coin and laying it on the table. "I'm sorry, this was all my fault."

"You cannot blame yourself for what Rita forced you to do through her magic." Zordon assured him as he glanced down at the power coin. He was a strong warrior, and there was no doubt that he would stand up and fight against Rita. The world would need someone like him now. "Tommy, you have what it takes to be a Power Ranger. I would be honored if you would stay and lead a new team."

"Me?" Tommy questioned, looking up at the face staring back at him. He hadn't thought about staying. But perhaps it was the right thing to do. He killed the rangers; he should step up and take on their responsibilities. Plus he knew more about Rita's organization that anyone else, and this would give him the opportunity to fight against the witch who did this to him. "I'd be glad to."

Before they could go any further, a portal opened and four figures stepped through it. Alpha started to panic and Carri interrupted. "They're not intruders. This is the rest of our Zeo team." She assured the robot.

"You found us." Jason stated as he crossed his arms over his chest. He was beginning to wonder if they were going to be stuck here forever.

Tommy smiled. "Billy was on it the minute you guys disappeared." He replied. He was glad they finally made it here, and he was happy that it looked like things were finally going well for his alternate.

Rocky immediately went over and put his arms around Carri. "I'm so glad to see you." He didn't have to worry about her anymore. She was with him again and in one piece and they could go home.

"I'm glad to see you too." Carri replied, returning the hug. She didn't have much time to think about home while she was there, but when she did, it was how much she missed her boyfriend. She saw the resident Tommy glance over toward them and she hoped that he knew enough to not to open his mouth about what they had to do while they were there.

"Welcome Zeo Rangers." Zordon quickly greeted the incoming team. He was not surprised to see that Tommy was a ranger in their world. Jason had been pretty adamant about rescuing the Green Ranger.

Jason turned to Zordon. "Now that everything has been straightened out, who are you going to choose to be rangers?" They were going to have to put a team together soon. It would not take Rita long to regroup and return.

"I was hoping that you would help me decide." Zordon said. He had gotten lucky with his first set of teens. Alpha had worried that teens would not make good rangers, but Zordon's group proved him wrong. He was hoping that these rangers could name some worthy replacements.

The resident Tommy turned to look at the alternates. "I'm the Green Ranger. We'll just need to fill in the rest of the team."

The alternate Tommy walked over toward his double. "Can I see your power coin?" he asked, watching as the slightly younger version handed it over. He put it on a console and hit a few buttons, making it disappear. Before the resident Tommy could protest, the alternate explained. "That coin was going to bring you nothing but trouble."

"This is for the best." Zordon assured him. He was contemplating not letting him use the Green Ranger coin anymore. Who knew what kind of ties Rita still had to it. "You will lead the team as the red ranger."

"What happened to the other rangers?" Adam asked, although he wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer.

"I killed them for Rita." The resident Tommy said as he glanced at the other rangers. "Your friends were brought here for me to kill in order to give Rita enough power to conquer the universe."

Adam didn't know what to say in response so instead he went back to the topic at hand. "What about us? Me, Rocky and Aisha in Stone Canyon?" This world was similar to their own, perhaps their alternates would be able to help.

Alpha nodded and went to the console, scanning Stone Canyon until the other rangers identified the residents in question. "Teleporting now." He said as three white beams shot through the Command Center.

They were shocked at the scene in front of them. They didn't know what part to address first. "What's going on here?" Aisha questioned as she looked around.

"I will explain as soon as we have chosen a pink ranger." Zordon assured the young teens.

"If I'm in Australia there's no way I can be a ranger." Kat said as she thought about it. It would be hard on her alternate to try to be a ranger and not be with the rest of the team. "And Tanya is in Africa which would rule her out as well."

"What about me?" Carri asked as she thought about it. If her alternate was anything like her, she'd jump at the chance to be a ranger.

Alpha went to scan for Carri's alternate based on Carri's DNA. "It appears as though your alternate is in Stone Canyon as well."

"Seriously?" Carri asked. Although this was an alternate dimension, there was no reason that her alternate had to be in New York just because she was at this point in her life. "Well that's perfect then." She said as Alpha moved to teleport her in.

The resident Carri arrived in the Command Center, just as shocked as the other three had been. Her appearance shocked the alternate team just as much because she was sporting bleach blonde hair. The resident Carri looked at all the doubles, stopping to stare at hers. "What in the world is this?" she asked as she glared at the brunette. It reminded her of how she had been trying to sneak around her mother and dye her hair back to its natural color. Now that she had a reminder of how pretty it was, she was determined to defy her mother and do it.

"Welcome to the Command Center, home of the Power Rangers." Zordon greeted the teenagers. They all looked surprised and confused and he was hoping that they would accept what was going on and be a part of it.

"You mean this is where the power rangers are?" the resident Rocky practically squeaked. He was excited. He had watched the Power Rangers fight for months but he never thought he would get this close to where they operated.

"Were." Kat corrected as she stared at the blonde version of her cousin. She couldn't get over how weird that looked. She tried to shake it off as she continued. "Unless you count us, but we're rangers from another dimension."

The resident Carri nodded. "That explains why I'm looking at myself." She said as she wondered what this girl's life had been like. Probably better than hers, she wasn't blond.

"The rangers of this world are no longer with us and we have chosen you to take their place." Zordon quickly explained to the group.

"Us be rangers?" Aisha questioned. She had never thought she would have the opportunity. She glanced over toward Rocky and Adam who both seemed as excited as she was. "Cool."

"I'm in." Rocky said as he looked over at whom he assumed would be his teammates. Adam and Aisha he knew well and it was going to be awesome to share this with them. The cute blonde he'd seen some around school but he didn't know her well. He assumed that one of the guys with long hair was going to be on their team, unless by coincidence they were twins.

Adam nodded as he chimed in. "Me too."

"Why not." Carri said, smiling and shrugging as she checked out her team as well. This was going to be awesome. Of course, her mom would have a cow if she knew. Which made it that much more fun.

Zordon looked at his new rangers and nodded his head in approval. "Rocky you will be the blue ranger, Adam will be black, Aisha will be yellow and Carri will be pink."

Alpha pressed a button and a box appeared in front of them. He opened it up to reveal five coins nestled inside. "These will be your power coins." He said as he handed them out. They were lucky that they were able to retrieve them from the rangers when they were killed. Otherwise, Rita could have made five more evil rangers. "You must keep them with you at all times."

Before Alpha could get into anything more about being rangers, the alarm went off. "Aye ai ai!" he exclaimed. He wasn't sure if this new team was ready yet but Goldar was back and he had brought friends. He assumed Rita thought she could attack while they were weak.

"Our first battle." The resident Adam said as he looked into the Viewing Globe. He watched as their red ranger headed over toward them. He watched their leader reach for his power coin and yell, "it's morphin time!" and then it was though he had been a ranger all his life. The power took over, instinct took over and he knew exactly what to do.

The Zeo Rangers watched as the others were teleported back to the surface. While the fight began, a portal opened up behind them. "This is our ticket home." Tommy said as he gestured toward it.

"Jason, Carri, I cannot express how grateful we are for your help." Zordon said as he glanced down at them. Without them, Tommy would still be running around as the evil Green Ranger doing Rita's bidding. They saved this world.

"Just doing our job." Carri said with a smile. This particular adventure was not an easy job with the situation with Tommy, and she would probably never forget it, but it was their job nonetheless.

"Someone needed to stop Rita." Jason said as he glanced up at Zordon. Tommy being evil was not something he had wanted to go through again, but he was glad that they could help. "I'm glad it was us."

Zordon smiled down at them as the rangers started to say goodbye. Then one by one, they jumped through the portal. After the last ranger entered and the portal shut, Zordon and Alpha turned their attention toward their new team.

* * *

"Welcome back guys." Billy greeted. He was thrilled that they had returned. He had been hard at work since he sent the others off to retrieve them. This adventure had left quite a mess for them to cover up. However, they were pretty sure they had a story to satisfy the public with.

The story was that Jason and Carri had accidentally gotten mixed up in ranger business and the rangers had to rescue them. They were going to say that the rangers wiped their memory of the event so that they could go on leading normal lives and they would hope that the public would respect that. If that didn't work, they would continue to stay on top of it to make sure there was no fallout from the event.

"Thank you Billy." Carri said as she grinned at him. "And thanks for getting us out of there." She added. She was glad to be home and be able to go to sleep in her own bed that night.

Billy couldn't help but blush a little. "I was just doing my job."

"You're pretty good at your job." Jason assured him as he gave him a slap on the back.

"It's good to have you guys back." Adam said as he looked at the two of them. Now maybe everyone could relax and things could get back to normal.

"We were all worried about you." Kat said as Rocky nodded. Even Carri's parents were freaked out about their daughter's disappearance. She hoped that Zordon could help take care of everything. She looked over at the Gold Ranger and thought about his girlfriend. "Especially Emily." She added.

"I need to go find her." Jason said as he suddenly remembered where he was before this all happened. She must be freaking out by now.

Carri nodded at him. "I'm going to go home." That sounded like the nicest place to be at the moment.

Rocky slipped his hand into hers and gave it a little squeeze. "Mind if I join you?"

"Not at all." Carri said with a smile. After the last few days, she would enjoy spending some time with her boyfriend.

"Let's head out." Kat suggested. It had been a long past few days and she was pretty sure everyone was going to catch up on whatever needed to be done. The other rangers agreed with her and one by one they teleported out of the Power Chamber.

* * *

A few seconds later, Kat, Carri and Rocky's teleportation beams streaked into the Hillard household. Carri went and immediately collapsed into the couch. Rocky followed behind her, sitting down and putting his arm around her. It was obvious to Kat that they wanted some time together and she elected to head upstairs. "I'll be in my room if you need me." She said. She would have her cousin to talk to all night.

As Kat disappeared, Carri leaned into her boyfriend. "What a last few days I had." She commented. She wondered if she should have gone back to that topic of conversation. She didn't want to go into too much detail with Rocky but he was probably going to bring it up anyway and there were some parts of it she didn't mind sharing.

"You tangled with the Green Ranger." Rocky pointed out. Although he had seen the wizard's evil clone, he hadn't had any experience with the real evil Tommy. He knew that Tommy evil was not someone you wanted to cross.

"And lived." She added although she hadn't really doubted that. Most of the hits they took were because they were going easy on him. They had more ranger powers than he did and if it came down to them or Tommy, she would have chosen them.

"I noticed." Rocky said as he thought about what he saw before they arrived. "He got you pretty good during the fight we saw. Are you alright?" he asked, putting a finger to her arm to feel for any remnants of her adventure.

"Fine." She said, quickly brushing his concern off. "Nothing a little morphing couldn't fix." She did not need him worrying about that. It hurt at the time but it was more of an irritation than anything.

"There's a job bonus for you." He said as he gave her a little squeeze. He hated that she had to go through it in the first place, but it was part of what she signed on for when she became a ranger.

"Exactly." Carri said with a smile. She didn't mind the bumps and bruises that came with being a ranger sometimes. They could always be healed. He smiled back at her and leaned down to kiss her on her forehead. "What was that for?" she asked as she grinned at him.

Rocky simply grinned back and she sat up, quickly leaning into him and locking his mouth with hers. He kissed her back and pulled her close and before he knew it, their hands were all over each other. Without warning Rocky pushed her back. It was getting close to six and Kat's parents would be home any second. "Let's go out."

Carri's eyes lit up and she grinned at him. "Sure." She said, allowing him to pull her off of the couch and toward the door. Rocky grabbed her car keys from their hook on the wall and led her out of the house so they could spend some time together.

* * *

Jason found himself at the beach club looking for Emily. When she was nowhere to be found he went to talk to Ernie. "Hey." He greeted the beach club's owner.

"Jason you're back!" he exclaimed, thrilled that he had been returned safely. "What happened?"

"I don't know much." Jason lied. He really couldn't tell Ernie anything. "All I know is thank God for the Power Rangers." He added. That would do well for the start of a ranger rescue story.

"Where would Angel Grove be without the Power Rangers?" Ernie asked as he smiled at Jason.

"I would hate to find out." Jason replied as he smiled back. He knew where the world could be. It could be Rita's plaything while she collected enough ranger energy to conquer the universe. He shook that thought away and continued. "Where's Emily?"

Ernie pointed down the beach. "She got off a while ago. She went down there to think." He said. Emily was devastated by Jason's disappearance and work was the only thing keeping her distracted.

"Thanks." Jason replied before taking off. He jogged down the beach until he saw the back of her and he wasted no time calling out her name.

Emily spun around and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Jason?" she questioned, unable to believe it was really him. She took off running toward the figure and when she made it to him she threw her arms around him. "You're alright! I was so worried. I was afraid you were hurt or dying or dead."

Jason put a finger to her lips to stop her. "I'm here now and that's what counts." He said, removing his finger to give her a kiss.

"What happened?" Emily asked as he took her hand in his. She smiled at him and gave he gave it a little squeeze.

"I'm not completely sure." Jason lied once again. Lying to Emily was the worst, but he had done it before when he was called into action and he was sure he would have to do it again. "All I know is that the Power Rangers rescued us."

"If I ever see the Power Rangers I'll be sure to thank them." Emily said, standing on her toes and leaning in to give Jason a kiss on the cheek.

Jason glanced down at her and smiled. He leaned down and pulled her closely, drawing her in for a kiss. After a few seconds, Emily pulled back and slapped him across the face. He put a hand to his jaw and regarded her curiously. "What was that for?"

She sniffled loudly and tried hard not to start crying again. "Don't ever do that to me again." She said as the tears filled her eyes. "I love you and I thought you were dead." With those words, she couldn't hold back any longer and the tears fell freely.

Jason frowned as he wiped the tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry." He apologized. "But I couldn't let anything happen to my friends."

Emily sniffled as the tears died down. "You care so much about others. It's one of the reasons why I love you." She said as she looked at him. She had not really thought about it before, but seeing him rush into danger to rescue his friends and thinking he had died trying… her heart ached and she realized she loved him.

"I love you too." Jason replied. He was surprised to hear her say it but he cared for her and the feeling was mutual. Before she could say anything else, he leaned down to give her a kiss.

Emily returned his kiss with passion and it felt as though time stopped around them. Once it resumed Jason held onto Emily's hand and they walked down the beach, both wanting to make up for lost time together.


	7. Kat Times Two

**Disclaimer:** The rangers are still Disney's, everyone else belongs to me.**  
Author's Notes:** First, some of you may notice if you've read the entire series that "V-Day" technically comes next. The problem is I don't like the way it goes seeing as how Kat and Tommy technically don't date until the Scrolls fic after this one. What I'm thinking about doing is redoing parts of the fic (using Rita/Zedd and centering it around prom) and put it in after a few more Scrolls stories (most likely after "An Old Friend"). If I can't figure out how to rework it (it was a plot line driven by Archerina), it will be left out of the official Ranger Scrolls storyline.  
This would take place in the middle of March, a month and a half after the last fic, with the Zeo episodes "The Ranger Who Came in from the Gold" through "King For A Day" parts 1 & 2 taking place. Also before "The Ranger Who Came in from the Gold", the rangers would have discovered Auric somehow but not like in the show. I haven't quite figured out the how part yet though.  
Also this was originally a co written fic with an author named Ninjor, and was a product of our imagination. Like with the other stories, I am editing and elaborating the original.

Ranger Scrolls  
"Kat Times Two"

Tommy walked into the Youth Center and spotted a fellow ranger sitting at a table. He smiled to himself, this was exactly the ranger he was looking for. "Hey Kat." He said as he sat down across from her and grinned.

"Hey Tommy." Kat replied with a smile bigger than the one he wore. Ever since Kim broke up with him, she and Tommy had been getting much closer. She felt like she was taking advantage of his broken heart but he didn't seem to want to push her away. In fact, it was quite the opposite. She couldn't help but wonder if there was a future for them. As her smile lessened in size, she continued. "What brings you here?"

"I was coming to hang out." Tommy replied. He was coming to see her but he was not ready to say that aloud yet. He really liked her and was thinking about asking her out. However, he did not want to blow their friendship. She had been there for him a lot lately when he needed it.

"With me?" Kat asked in a teasing fashion. When Tommy smiled and nodded Kat had to turn away so he wouldn't notice the blush that came over her face. She quickly turned back to him and continued. "I was just going to get something to eat. Care to join me?"

"That sounds great." Tommy replied enthusiastically. He was glad that the others were gone and that the two of them could enjoy lunch together. "I'll grab Ernie and we'll order." With that, Tommy stood and headed for the front counter.

* * *

It was a beautiful day outside, and Adam and Rocky were heading through the park. They were going off to go grab their equipment before driving down to the batting cages. It was nice weather to practice and with the start of the season looming, they wanted to get some extra swings in.

"I can't believe how quiet it has been lately." Rocky commented absentmindedly. As he spoke the words, he couldn't help but wonder if he had just jinxed them. He really was enjoying the quiet time; it was giving him a chance to catch up on other stuff.

Adam nodded his head in agreement. "It's like Gasket and Archerina decided to go on vacation." They were both usually plotting away, but lately they had not heard as much as a peep from either of them. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing.

Rocky chuckled. "That would be the best gift ever." He replied as he grinned over toward Adam. Not that the rangers would ever get that lucky.

"Yeah." Adam said with a sigh. "Still, it would be nice." He stopped short when his communicator went off.

Rocky groaned. "I knew it." He said as he and Adam stopped and looked around. As soon as he said the words, he had practically invited Gasket to attack. "Go ahead Alpha." He spoke into his communicator.

"There are Cogs directly west of your location in the park." The little robot spoke frantically.

"We're on it." Rocky said as he and Adam turned and took off. It did not take long for the small army of Cogs to come into view.

"Let's show Gasket why it may be worth cashing in on a little vacation time." Adam said as he turned toward his best friend and grinned.

Rocky chuckled as he maneuvered into position. "It's morphin time!" he yelled and seconds later, the blue and green rangers were running into the fight.

* * *

Jason and Emily were taking advantage of the afternoon by going for a walk by the lake. Emily looked up at her boyfriend and slipped her hand in his, giving it a squeeze as she grinned at him. "The lake looks beautiful today."

"It does." Jason said, glancing down at her and giving her a quick kiss on the forehead.

Emily smiled and leaned into him. "I'm glad I'm out here with you." They had been going out a lot lately and she was really enjoying their time together.

"Really?" Jason questioned, giving her a sly grin as he pulled her in front of him and held her tightly. He was about to lean down for a passionate kiss when his communicator went off and interrupted him.

"Seriously?" Emily said as Jason's arms dropped and she backed up a bit. "You're getting paged again?" That thing seemed to go off on a constant basis and it drove her nuts. He would not elaborate on all the emergencies and she hated watching him run off all the time. "Can't you turn that off for once?"

"Not really." Jason said with a sigh. He couldn't help that Gasket always had bad timing.

"It seems like every time we're out together you get paged and run off." Emily said with a sigh of her own as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Jason shook his head. It probably felt that way because there seemed to be an attack he was needed for every time they were together. However, he was a ranger first and she would just have to get used to it. "I'll make it up to you, I promise." He said, stepping up to her and giving her a kiss on the cheek before slipping away.

Once he was far enough away from Emily, he went to answer his page. "What is it Alpha?"

"Rocky and Adam are in need of your assistance in the park." Alpha quickly filled him in on the situation.

"I'm on it." Jason said as he shifted his stance. "It's"

"Jason?" Emily questioned as she appeared out of nowhere.

The startled Gold Ranger stopped before he could reveal his identity. "Emily? What are you doing here?" he asked, wondering why in the world his girlfriend followed him.

"I thought I heard your voice." Emily said with a frown. She was heading home when she thought she heard him and she wanted to check it out.

"Oh, uh, yeah, I was just, getting mad to myself about this whole pager thing." Jason said trying to come up with something quickly. This was the closest she had ever been to catching him morph. "Anyway I've got to get home fast so I'll talk to you later."

"Yeah. Later." Emily said as she turned and walked off. She could not help but wonder about her boyfriend's odd behavior as she left.

Jason let out a sigh of relief once she was gone. He was really going to have to make this up to her later. Once she had disappeared out of sight, he went back to morphing. "It's morphin time! Gold ranger power!"

* * *

It seemed as though the more Adam and Rocky fought, the more Cogs they were hit with. At one point, they were overwhelmed with no end in sight. "We could use some help." Adam said to his self more than anything. It was obvious they could use more rangers, but there was not much either of them could do about it.

"Yeah and." Rocky started to say. Before he could get any farther, he heard an exclamation that sounded like it ended with something "rush." He caught the gold streak fly past him out of the corner of his eye and a group of Cogs went down.

"You guys ok?" Jason asked as he looked over toward the other two rangers. He could not help but wonder why they were stuck with the fight and where in the world the rest of his team was. He supposed Zordon had a good reason for not sending everyone out here. He hoped the others were ok.

"Fine." Rocky replied, nodding in the Gold Ranger's direction. At least they got some assistance. Now maybe they could finish the rest of these Cogs off easily.

Between the three of them, it did not take long to destroy the remainder of the Cog army. They all stood there for a moment to make sure the battlefield was clear and quiet. "Let's get to the Power Chamber." Jason said once he decided they were all clear.

The others nodded and seconds later streaks of black, blue and green went flying through the air.

* * *

Carri was spending her afternoon laying on the beach, her head buried in her arms as she soaked up the sun's rays. She was half-asleep and more relaxed than she had been in a long time. She was close enough to nodding off that she could not hear her communicator go off from deep inside her gym bag.

Instead of being attentive, in her half sleep state she was thinking about how nice it was to have the peace and quiet, and how amazing it had been to get some time to lay out. Today had been quite a few degrees warmer than average, with the temperature hitting quite close eighty. It had been a warm start to the year on average with this being the hottest day so far and she intended on taking full advantage. So far it seemed as though Gasket and Archerina were going to let her.

A few minutes later, she decided that her back had gotten enough of the noon sun and she pulled herself over and wormed her way onto her back. With her ears no longer blocked by her arms, she finally heard her communicator going off.

Sitting up she let out a groan. There goes her taking advantage of the day's warmth. She pulled her bag toward her and dug through it until she found her communicator. Quickly hopping up, she grabbed her things and took off until she was out of view. Satisfied no one could see her; she dropped her bag with a thud and pulled her communicator up to her mouth. "Go ahead."

"You are needed at the Power Chamber immediately." Zordon quickly told her.

"On my way." Carri said with a sigh as she picked her stuff up off the floor. With one last glance around, the yellow ranger teleported to the Power Chamber.

* * *

Tommy and Kat finished up their lunch at the Youth Center. The meal had been full of a combination of small talk and awkward silences. Both where into each other and neither knew quite what to say. Kat was nervous because Tommy was now available and Tommy was nervous because he knew he was into Kat.

After a few minutes, Kat smiled at Tommy. "I was going to head home. I was thinking about changing and meeting Carri for a while at the beach. You could come, if you wanted."

"I have to do something for my parents this afternoon." Tommy said, not trying to hide his disappointment. He would love to hang out on the beach with Kat. Of course, she was probably planning on tanning with her cousin and he did not tan. "Maybe some other time we can all hang out."

"Yeah, sure." Kat replied. Although she didn't want to all hang out, she wanted it to be just herself and Tommy.

"Let me walk you home." Tommy suggested quickly. He watched as her expression brightened. They stood and headed for the door, giving Ernie a quick wave on the way out.

They jogged across the street and headed off, the Youth Center slowly falling out of sight. There was silence between them but that did not last long as without warning Gasket materialized in front of them. "Hello Tommy, so nice to see you again." Gasket said with a snarl as he looked over at Kat. "Sorry pink but this is between us."

With a swift kick, Gasket sent Kat soaring through the air and into a telephone booth. Gasket felt somewhat relieved that he had gotten her in there on the first try. It would save him the trouble later on. Now he could let the booth work its magic on her while he dealt with Tommy.

"Kat!" Tommy called out as he turned toward the pink ranger.

"I'm ok." Kat replied. She was a little dazed from hitting her head but other than that, she was fine.

"This is going to be the end for you." Gasket promised the red ranger as he kicked him back. The way this was going this would be too easy.

Kat watched as Tommy sail across the landscape and knew she had to help. She grabbed the bars on the side of the booth for support and pulled herself up. As she pulled herself up, the bars went down and when she was all the way up the glass door of the booth slammed shut in front of her.

It was not long before Kat started to notice that something was not feeling right. She gave a tug on the door but it wouldn't budge. She pulled harder but still did not get any results. As she continued to pull, she looked down at her hands and noticed them starting to glow pink. This could not be good. "Tommy!" she yelled, hoping the red ranger could come to her rescue.

"Hang on!" Tommy yelled as he ducked around Gasket and headed for the telephone booth. He yanked on the door once with no results. The second time he yanked the door flew open and he flew backwards, slamming his head against the pavement and temporarily knocking himself out.

"Tommy!" Kat yelled toward her fallen teammate as she glared at Gasket. "You don't have a choice but to deal with me." Kat said taking a brief glance around to make sure the public had scattered. "It's morphin time! Zeo ranger one, pink!"

Kat went through the motions but nothing happened. Before she could ponder what was going on too much, an intense pain shot through her and she fell to the ground, clutching her sides. She did not know what was happening to her but it felt like her body was literally ripping apart. Seconds later there was a bright flash of pink and laying on the ground were two Kat's, both of whom were unconscious.

"That should take care of phase one." Gasket said triumphantly as he looked from one unconscious ranger to the other. "And I was beginning to wonder if Klank's invention was going to work." Satisfied, he teleported away just as the morphed rangers multi colored streaks were flying onto the scene.

As they got there, the rangers immediately surveyed the scene. Gasket was gone but he had obviously left damage behind. "Kat?" Adam questioned, quite surprised to see the two pink rangers on the ground.

"Oh my." Carri said as she stared at her cousin, or cousins as the case was. How or why Gasket replicated her she didn't know but they would have to figure out how to put the two halves back together.

Jason looked over at his friend. "Don't worry. Zordon and Billy will be able to fix this." At least he hoped so. As far as he knew, nobody had ever replicated a ranger before.

"Let's get them and get back before anybody comes over here." Rocky suggested. They quickly gathered the red and pink rangers and teleported away before any of the Angel Grove citizens knew what had happened.

* * *

Tommy regained consciousness right after they returned to the Power Chamber. He was sitting up on one of the medical beds, rubbing his throbbing head as the rest of the team finished briefing him on the situation. "This is all my fault." He said angrily. How could he let something happen to Kat? He really cared about her and yet he could not save her. "If I had protected her better, this wouldn't have happened." He added as he slammed his fist onto the table.

"Easy there Tommy." Rocky said as he glanced over at the team's leader. He understood he was upset but there was no way this was his fault. Besides, he really needed to rest right now and let the rest of the team worry about it. "You hit your head pretty hard, maybe you should relax for a minute."

"Rocky's right." Billy chimed in. Tommy wasn't morphed when he took that beating and he needed to start running scans on him. He had no clue if there was going to be any permanent damage and Tommy needed to remain calm and lay back so he could help him. Instead, the red ranger looked like he was ready to rip someone's head off over what happened to Kat. "Don't blame yourself Tommy. There wasn't anything you could have done."

"You weren't there." Tommy replied, getting angrier as he thought about it. He could not believe he let Gasket get the jump on them like that. Everything had been amazing during lunch and now this. "I should have been able to keep him from splitting Kat in two. We need to fix this."

"I'm working on it as fast as I can." Billy assured him. They had to get Tommy calmed down so he could look at them. It was obvious that he was starting to form a nasty bump on the back of his head. "You're going to have to let me work. In the meantime you need to lie back down so I can make sure there's no serious damage."

"There's no time for that. We have to go after Gasket and figure out what his plan is. We have to stop him." Tommy said as he glanced around at his team. Surely, they would understand how important this was.

"Tommy I must insist that you lay back and allow Billy to examine you." Zordon intervened. Tommy was a good ranger and he understood why he wanted to keep going. However, his health came first. "We are doing everything we can for Katherine. And Prince Gasket appears to be silent for the moment."

"But Zordon." Before Tommy could get a sentence out, Billy stuck something in his arm. Seconds later Tommy was out and Billy was guiding his limp body to the table.

"What did you do to him?" Jason asked as he raised an eyebrow and looked over at Billy. He didn't think knocking Tommy out was going to help the situation any.

"I issued him a sedative. He had no intention of letting me scan him but it is imperative that I take care of the lump on his head and make sure he's alright before he runs out into battle." Billy replied. It was not the favorable course of action but he thought given the circumstances that it was the best idea.

Rocky sighed and shook his head. He agreed with Billy, Tommy was not going to be any good to them if he collapsed during battle. Of course, he still was not going to be happy when they woke him back up. "I wish we knew how to fix Kat." He mumbled.

Carri let out a sigh of her own as she crossed her arms over her chest. She wished they knew how to fix Kat as well. Kat was her cousin and her friend and she desperately wanted to do something for her. "We've got to get her back to herself." She said as she glanced over toward the beds that held both Kats.

Rocky walked over and put his arms around his girlfriend and she leaned into his shoulder. "We'll fix Kat, I promise." He said. She didn't reply and he continued to hold her there. They would fix Kat; they just had to figure out how.

* * *

"It worked!" Prince Sprocket exclaimed as he bounced around giddily and clapped his hands.

"Of course it did." Archerina replied as she looked down at him. "Did you expect anything less from someone as cunning as my Gasket?"

"Ha." Sprocket said his dancing coming to a halt. "I could have done it too you know." It was Klanks invention. All his stupid brother had to do was execute it right and they were guaranteed to be rid of one ranger.

Gasket shot Sprocket a look before deciding to ignore his comments completely. "We've taken two of the six rangers out." He quickly pointed out. That was of course assuming that the red ranger was still out but between the jolt of the machine and him hitting his head, he doubted he would be battle ready any time soon. "They're not as invulnerable as they thought." He added with a laugh.

"This is such a brilliant plan my dear." Archerina said as she glanced over toward him. He has had much less time than his father did and he would achieve what his father never could. Destroy the Power Rangers.

"We'll take the rest of them out one by one." Gasket said as he thought about his next course of action. "Then the rangers will be gone and the world will be ours."

"We should leave the yellow ranger for last." Archerina suggested as she thought about what Gasket wanted to do. "She's the newest ranger and she's going to be too emotionally distraught from losing everyone close to her to defend the world."

"Brilliant!" Gasket exclaimed. He and Archerina made quite the pair. He let out a small laugh as he realized what he wanted to do next. "I know just the monster to take care of them."

* * *

Back in the Power Chamber, the alarms started going off. "Aye ai ai!" Alpha exclaimed as he ran to the controls. "Gasket has sent a monster to the park."

Zordon looked at his rangers. "As soon as Billy clears Tommy for duty we will wake him and send him to join you." He was afraid of what Gasket was going to throw at the rangers, knowing that the team was down two. However, he knew his team would do whatever they could to protect the planet.

"Right." Rocky said stepping forward and taking charge as the blue ranger had been second in command. "It's morphin time!"

"Zeo ranger two, yellow!"

"Zeo ranger three, blue!"

"Zeo ranger four, green!"

"Gold ranger power!"

Seconds later the rangers were standing in front of the Machine Empire's newest ugly creation. "Welcome rangers." He said with a laugh. "I am Mirage and I am about to change the way you see things."

Jason rolled his eyes. All monsters offered lame threats. "We'll see about that." He said as he charged toward him. He went to kick him and with no explanation instead of kicking Mirage, he kicked Adam.

Mirage let out a bellowing laugh as he used his power to make it look as though Angel Grove had turned into a desert. "Do you need some glasses?" he asked as he looked toward the Gold Ranger.

"This is great." Carri said with a sigh as she looked at Mirage. She was not quite sure how to attack him. A straightforward attack hadn't worked out so well for Jason. "An evil illusionist" She muttered to herself.

Mirage heard her quite well and he laughed again. "That's right babe." He said as he ran toward her.

Carri moved into defensive stance just as Rocky ran to her side. "Back off." He warned Mirage.

Mirage stopped suddenly and the desert scene switched to a jungle one. "Another illusion." Adam said, quite frustrated with the way this fight was going. Of course there was not anyone in particular to say it to, the jungle had made it seem as though nobody was around for miles.

However, he could hear them yelling in separate corners and he could hear the weapons firing. Even though he couldn't see them, he could hear them when they fired at him and hit him, sending him to the ground. Adam slowly got up. This was going to be a long fight.

* * *

"Aye ai ai!" Alpha exclaimed as things around the rangers kept getting crazier and crazier. "How is Tommy?"

"I'm almost done." Billy replied as he finished running the scans. Besides the lump on his head, Tommy had suffered from a mild concussion and two broken ribs. If Billy hadn't taken care of him, he would have never made it through the fight.

A few seconds later the scans came back and Billy was satisfied with the results. He gave Tommy another injection to wake him up from the sedative he had given him earlier. The red ranger opened his eyes a few seconds later and slowly sat up.

"What happened?" Tommy asked as he looked over at Billy. He was feeling much better than he had the last time he regained consciousness. The headache was gone and the sore feeling had disappeared. With the physical distraction gone he could actually think clearly now.

"I had to scan you." Billy said, intentionally leaving out the part about the sedative. "You were injured fighting Gasket but you should be fine now."

"What's going on?" he asked as he glanced first at the two Kats before looking over at the fight on the viewing screen. It was obvious they were still working on Kat, however there was something more pressing to deal with.

"Prince Gasket has sent down Mirage. The others are out fighting but could use your help." Zordon quickly filled Tommy in on the situation.

Tommy gave their mentor a nod as he jumped down off the medical table. "It's morphin time!" he yelled as he moved his zeonizers into position. "Zeo ranger five, red!"

* * *

Carri found herself being tossed aside by Mirage and she let out a frustrated grunt as he taunted her while she picked herself up. "I'll never be defeated!" he yelled as she glared at him.

"That's what you think." She said, as she got ready to give him a beating. He more than deserved what was coming to him. "You'll pay for what you did to Kat." Whether or not he had any direct involvement she wasn't sure, but he worked for Gasket and as far as she was concerned, that left him with some of the blame.

"I always take credit for my work and the pink ranger wasn't mine." Mirage said with a laugh. "I'm only here to make you all suffer." He said as he shifted the battlefield around. The surprised Gold Ranger landed right in front of him and he reached out and grabbed his helmet, causing it to glow.

"What's happening to me?" Jason asked, his motor function was slowing as he crumbled to the ground.

"You're trapped in suspended animation." Mirage said with glee. He was hoping he could do this to one of the rangers. "You can't help your friends and they can't help you." Not that the explanation was going to do the Gold Ranger any good.

"Jason!" Carri yelled as she and the others rushed toward their fallen friend.

"I've read about this." Adam said, glancing briefly down at the Gold Ranger before looking over at Mirage. "People trapped in suspended animation can't move they're trapped in their subconscious mind."

"How do we help him?" Rocky asked, hoping his friend had read that part of the puzzle as well.

"I don't know." Adam said shaking his head as the remaining three rangers faced off against Mirage. None of them were completely sure what to do. With all the illusions, it was nearly impossible to get a hit in on him.

"First Kat, now Jason." Carri said shaking her head. "This guy's going down." She did not care if only one incident technically belonged to him. She was going to pummel him for both of them.

Before they could make a decision on how to get to him, a red and white boot came out of nowhere and kicked Mirage squarely in the chest, breaking his concentration and sending him flying backwards. The illusions disappeared and they found themselves in Angel Grove.

"Feeling better?" Rocky asked, looking over at the red ranger as he landed on the ground.

"Absolutely." Tommy replied as he called on his power weapon. "Let's teach this guy a lesson."

Mirage stood and looked at the four rangers. He was not expecting the return of the red ranger and he was quite agitated by this turn of events. He had taken one of the rangers out of commission though and that was good enough for now. He would come back for the other rangers. "We'll continue this later." He said before taking off.

The four rangers stood looking down at Jason once he was gone. "Let's get him back to the Power Chamber." Tommy said and seconds later five multi colored streaks went flying through the air.

* * *

It was not long after their return to the Power Chamber that Zordon sent the other rangers away. There was nothing to do for them there except pace and worry. He urged them to go rest, promising that he would let them know the minute something had changed.

Tommy, Rocky and Carri had gone down to the Youth Center while Adam volunteered to stay behind and help Billy. He knew a little bit about suspended animation and was trying to help research ways to help Jason while Billy was working on putting Kat back together.

Billy let out a sigh as he looked at the computer screens. "This task is proving to be quite difficult." Billy replied. It was not just that Gasket made two copies. It was that he made one copy the polar opposite of the sweet, innocent Kat they all knew. The copy had been created with so much evil it would have made Rita jealous. He had to clear the spell and put the two pieces together just the way they were before or else they would not have the same Kat they started with.

"We can't give up though." Adam replied, although he was pretty sure those words didn't need to be spoken. He knew Billy would never give up. As he turned back to his work, he saw one of the Kat's sit up. "Kat?" Adam questioned, relieved that she had regained consciousness. He and Billy both went over to her.

"What happened?" Kat asked as Billy and Adam approached her. "I think I remember being split in two, just after Tommy was knocked out. Is Tommy ok? What about Gasket? Are the others fighting him? I should morph. They must need my help. Can I even morph? I'm separated like Trey, he can't morph. Maybe."

"Calm down." Billy said, cutting her off as he put what he hoped was a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "The others are fine. Gasket is gone for the moment. And we're working on a way to put you together again."

Kat nodded as she tried to absorb the fact that she was still in pieces. As she sat there, Adam and Billy started to fill her in on everything that had happened in the last little bit. They were so focused on Kat that nobody noticed her other half wake up, smirk, and teleport away.

* * *

The three rangers sat at their usual table in the Youth Center. Tommy was drinking water while Rocky and Carri both had lunch, thanks to the blue ranger. He had insisted that they get lunch after his girlfriend commented that she skipped breakfast and had not eaten since the night before. He and Adam were going to get lunch after they had finished at the batting cages, but they never got the chance.

Tommy sighed. "I hope Kat will be ok." He said as he stared at his water bottle. It was driving him nuts. There was nothing he could do for her.

Carri sighed as she pushed one of her straps back up her shoulder. She had thrown a pair of shorts and a tank top over her bikini. She wished she had real clothes with her but she had not really planned to spend her afternoon caught up in this mess. "Me too." She added as she pushed her food around her plate with her fork.

"You should eat something." Rocky said as he looked over at her. All she had done was push lunch around since he brought it to her. He knew she was worried but she had to be hungry. "You'll waste away to nothing and then I'll have an invisible girlfriend." He joked. However, no one laughed, not even Rocky.

It just didn't seem right to be joking around. They were all too worried about their fallen teammates to laugh at jokes that afternoon. "Billy's going to come up with something. He always does." Rocky tried to reassure his girlfriend.

"What if he doesn't?" Carri questioned. She usually was not the one to be negative but she was trying to stay realistic. It wasn't like putting two parts of a human back together was something they had to do all the time.

"He has to." Tommy replied. There was no way around it Billy was going to succeed. He didn't have any choice in the matter; Tommy was not going to let him fail.

The door to the Youth Center swung open and Carri looked up, quite surprised to see who was making her way over toward them. "Kat!" she exclaimed, jumping out of her chair and going to give her cousin a hug.

"Look what the Kat dragged in." Rocky joked. This joke got a smile from his teammates. It was nice to see the pink ranger up and running again.

"Welcome back." Tommy said as he turned to face her. He had a lot he wanted to say to her, most of it ending in "I'm sorry", but he didn't quite know where to begin.

"I can't stay long." Kat said, rolling her eyes. She didn't know why she came down here. Perhaps it was more curiosity than anything else. That and the need to change anything and everything about herself that she despised. That was the reason she just started working for Prince Gasket. He was going to let her have a lot of fun. "I've got to teach those kids to dance. I don't think those losers can do it. It's such a waste of my time."

With that statement, Kat walked off, leaving her teammates to give her dirty looks as she disappeared. "So what, she's had a bad day and now she's going to get an attitude with the rest of the world?" Carri said, making a frustrated noise as she went back to her seat. She didn't get it. Bad days were part of being a ranger but that did not give anyone the right to take their misplaced anger out on others. Especially not the kids Kat taught.

"I don't know." Rocky said shaking his head. "Something wasn't right. That's not the sweet, innocent Kat we all know."

Carri huffed but before any of the rangers could say anything, Kat came back into the Youth Center. "Back so soon?" Tommy questioned, wondering what in the world was going on here.

"What do you mean?" Kat asked as she looked curiously at the three rangers in the Youth Center. "This is the first time I've been here."

"Are you feeling alright?" Rocky questioned. Maybe it was residual effects from having been split in two. That would explain the poor attitude. "You just left us a minute ago."

"No." Kat said shaking her head. That must have been her other half, it was the only thing that made sense. "Out of curiosity, where did I say I was going?"

Carri crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow. "To waste your time teaching your loser dance kids." She said harshly as she shook her head.

Kat gaped at her. She would never ever say that about those kids. She loved her dance class; she looked forward to working with them. "I don't even have a class today."

"Then why would you say those things if you don't have a class?" Rocky questioned. None of this was making any sense.

"It wasn't me." Kat said as she noticed her cousins skeptical look. "That had to have been my other half. You guys don't actually think I'd say those things about my kids do you?"

"You're still split in two?" Carri questioned as Kat nodded. Her cousin looked hurt. She let out a sigh. Kat was always so concerned with people only thinking the best of her. If that was her other half, than it wasn't really her who said those things.

"Of course we didn't think you would say those things." Tommy quickly jumped in upon seeing Kat's hurt expression. "We knew something was wrong, we just didn't know what." He saw Kat's smile of relief and he grinned at her. He could never think the worst of Kat.

"We should go find my other half before she does any more damage." Kat said. The others nodded in reply and they took off.

* * *

The rangers caught up with the evil Kat in the back of the Youth Center near the offices. "Stop right there!" Carri called out to her cousin's doppelganger.

The evil Kat turned and raised an eyebrow at the collection of rangers that followed her. "You?" she questioned, not expecting her too perfect for her own good other half up and walking around with the rest of the rangers.

"You're coming back with us." Tommy said as he stepped forward. He did not want to hurt her; she was still part of Kat. However, he would do whatever was necessary to bring her back and fix the pink ranger.

The evil Kat smirked. "You think you're the big bad leader don't you?" she questioned with a laugh. Gasket had wanted her to get them into the park. Now was as good of a time as any. "This time I'm going to lead and you can follow." With that evil Kat teleported out of the dark hallway.

Tommy lifted his communicator up to his mouth. "Any clue where Kat's other half went." He spoke quickly into it.

"She's in the park." Billy replied. "But be careful, I'm getting some odd readings."

"Alright." Tommy replied as the team teleported away.

It only took a few seconds for them to realize what Billy's odd readings were. Waiting in the park for them was an ambush. Within moments, they were covered with Cogs. "We need to morph." Carri said as she pushed one of them off of her.

"Go ahead." Kat called out to her teammates. "I can't morph because I'm split. I'll keep these guys off of you long enough for you to."

"Be careful." Tommy warned as he and the other rangers started to fall back, leaving Kat with the brunt of the Cogs. "It's morphin time!"

"Zeo ranger two, yellow!"

"Zeo ranger three, blue!"

"Zeo ranger five, red!"

As they finished morphing a green streak flew through the air. The fourth member of the team joined them, and they ran to attack the Cogs, allowing Kat to get to safety.

There were enough Cogs to fight that it kept the rangers attention solely on them. This was why the evil Kat was able to slip away and find her other half. She was not hard to find, she had stayed close enough to her team to keep an eye on them. "Hello." Kat said sweetly as she approached from behind.

The evil Kat startled Kat and she jumped, swirling around to see who her visitor was. She took a second to stare at her; it was like looking in a mirror. "It's amazing. We both come from the same person yet we're so different."

"Personally I think you're a little too good for me." Evil Kat said with a smirk as she crossed her arms over her chest. "This is why you're just going to have to go."

"I don't think so." Kat replied as she shifted her stance. She did not want to fight herself, but she didn't want her evil half to kill her either. She would knock her out if it meant Billy could fix her and make things right again.

"Think again." Mirage replied with a laugh as he teleported down behind her. He grabbed her arms tightly before teleporting them both away to one of Gasket's holding caves.

The evil Kat smiled and turned to watch the rangers. This was going to work out better than she had hoped for. She was going to be able to destroy the rest of the ranger team. Of course, she was going to have to play the role of good Kat to do it. The thought of being that little goodie goodie sickened her. However, she would do what she must to get the job done.

As the fight with the Cogs ended, the rangers jogged over toward Kat. "Where did bitch Kat go?" Carri asked as she looked at her cousin. Kat was going to kill her for saying that but it was quite the accurate description.

"I don't know." Kat replied, working hard to keep her cool. She wanted to strangle her cousin but she had to wait. "I think she slipped away during the fight."

"Crap." Carri said with a sigh. "We're going to have to search for her."

"She probably ran off with Gasket." Tommy commented. It was obvious she was working for him; after all, she did just lure them into the Machine Empire's trap.

"Let's get back to the Power Chamber." Adam suggested. That was where they needed to go to look for answers.

The four rangers prepared to teleport. Tommy paused and glanced over at Kat. "Coming?" he questioned.

"Right behind you." She replied. She watched as their streaks flew through the air before letting out a sigh and joining them.

* * *

The first thing the rangers noticed when they returned was Jason's lifeless body laying on one of the medical beds. Tommy looked at his best friend before glancing over toward Billy. "Any news?" he questioned.

"I've got good news and bad news." Billy replied. He would let the rangers pick what they wanted to hear first.

"Good news first." Rocky spoke quickly. They needed a little bit of good news; it had been a long day. He watched as his girlfriend nodded her head in agreement. She especially needed some good news.

"The good news is I'm one step away from curing Jason." Billy spoke quickly, watching as the others looked relieved. He was glad he could give them something to be happy about. Now he had to tell them the rest of it. "The bad news is, although I have some ideas on how to fix Kat, I can't confirm anything without having both of her halves here."

"And we have no clue where her other half ran off to." Carri added to the bad news. Of course, she disappeared. It would be too easy for her to stay around and let them fix her.

"Rangers I will run a scan for Kat's other half and let you know as soon as I've located her." Alpha replied. She was not anywhere out in the open, he had already scanned for that. This was going to take a little bit of time.

"In the meantime?" Tommy questioned. He was hoping they would have something for them to do, something more than simply waiting around for results.

Billy frowned as he looked toward the team's leader. He knew he was about to say just what the red ranger did not want to hear. "In the meantime you'll have to wait."

Carri sighed and Rocky put his arm around her. "Why don't we all go down to the beach club? At least you can tan while we wait." He said, trying to get a smile out of her. She shot him a look, now was not the time for tanning, but she couldn't hide the fact that her face had brightened up a little.

"We'll go sit outside." Tommy chimed in. He could not care less about the sun, but if they were going to have to sit and wait, they might as well do it somewhere nice. The other rangers looked on in agreement, and they teleported back to Angel Grove.

Adam elected to stay behind again. He figured Billy could continue to use his help. "Let's get back to work." He said. The former blue ranger nodded and both went back into looking up ways to fix their friends.

* * *

Kat looked around the dark, dull cave she was being held in. "Where am I?" she questioned aloud.

"A cave in the desert." Gasket replied, startling Kat. She had not seen him come in. She could hardly see anything in there it was so dark. "A very well protected cave I might add."

"What do you want with me?" Kat asked as she stared at the Machine Empire's Prince.

"That my dear is quite simple." Gasket replied as he stepped closer to her. "I need your evil half to destroy the rangers so that I may conquer Earth. I need you around to keep her around. No one is quite sure if killing you will kill her." He paused, smiling at the horrified look on the pink ranger's face. "After I rule this planet we'll kill you and if she dies too, well it's simply collateral damage. If not I will let her stay on to work for me. She has a lot of good ideas you know."

"My friends won't let you do this." Kat assured him. They would find her, rescue her, and put her back together before it was too late. At least she hoped they would.

Gasket could not help but laugh. "Your friends won't know what's going on until it's too late." The other Kat would keep them well off his trail. He watched, as the pink ranger grew frustrated. Seeing as how she had no reply, Gasket took off.

Kat walked around the cave after her captor left, looking for a way out. She found one but it was protected by a force field. She couldn't even get close to it as the Cogs were guarding it as well. With a sigh, she went and sat down on the floor, leaning against the rock wall. She hoped the others would get here quickly.

* * *

The rangers found themselves sitting at a table at Ernie's beach club. Carri took off her shirt and shorts and lay back in one of the chairs in her bikini. She closed her eyes and felt the sun's warm rays on her skin. It was not as relaxing as she had hoped, and her brain was off and running within seconds.

"He's tearing us apart one by one." She said as she opened her eyes and looked at the other rangers. "Who is he going after next?"

"Nobody." Tommy said sternly. He was not going to have his team worrying about Gasket planning on taking them out. They should be more cautious, but if they wrapped themselves up in thinking about it, Gasket would win.

"Tommy's right." Rocky said as he reached over and grabbed his girlfriend's hand. "We won't let Gasket win." He promised her. He could tell she was thinking hard about the situation.

"How can you be so sure?" Kat questioned. She could not have the boys keeping the yellow ranger's spirits up. It would make their plan so much easier if she was certain they had lost. "Gasket could have won already and we wouldn't know it."

Carri thought about Kat's words for a moment. "She's right." She added. It pissed her off to think that they were sitting out here doing nothing and Gasket could be prepping to take over the world. Could he have done them in that easily? "What if Gasket's already carried out his master plan with Kat and Jason? What if we've lost?"

"Don't think like that." Rocky said. He put his free hand on her arm as she started rhythmically tapping her foot in the sand. She was getting angry and he had to get her to see that she was wrong. He believed she was he would not let himself think otherwise. "Gasket hasn't won, and he won't. We can't let him get the best of us like this."

"If we think we're going to lose than we might as well give up." Tommy chimed in as he leaned into the table. "And I know you; you're not going to give up. As long as there is one ranger left standing, Gasket will not win."

Carri's foot stopped tapping and she looked over at Tommy. She never said anything about giving up. She had not been a ranger long but she loved it and loved protecting the world, she would carry on her responsibilities until her death if that is what it took to stop Gasket. He would not win.

"Well I won't believe anything until I see proof." Kat jumped in. Carri was pulling herself together into fight mode and she could not let that happen. She needed her mentally toast. "Proof that we haven't lost yet." She added for her cousin's benefit.

"Kat you're being so negative today." Tommy said as he looked toward the pink ranger. Maybe it was from having been torn in two. Whatever it was, she wasn't helping anything. Every time they started to get Carri on the right path, Kat had something to add that would stir up the situation again. "What's going on?"

"I'm not being negative." Kat said with a sigh. Was her other half really this good all the time? She couldn't stand it. "I'm just pointing out what could very well be the situation we're about to face."

Before anybody could say anything, Emily approached their table. "Can I get you guys anything?" she asked. She just started her shift when she saw Jason's friends come in. She really wanted to talk to them.

"I'm fine." Kat said as she put on the sweetest smile she could come up with. It was sickening. If she had to keep this nice act up any longer, she was going to barf.

"Me too." Carri added. She was not thinking about anything else at the moment besides how to fix this mess and stop Gasket.

"Maybe you should eat something." Rocky suggested, giving her a small smile. He knew she probably would not listen to him but maybe if he was nice enough she would consider it. Even if she was ready to fight Gasket, he was afraid she would pass out if she did not eat anything. "You haven't eaten anything all day."

"I'm fine." Carri replied, flashing him a quick smile. She had too much going on in her head at the moment to worry about eating. "I'm not hungry." She added, hoping to satisfy her boyfriend.

"You need to eat something." Rocky said as she shot him a look. "For carbs and energy and all that." He added, hoping she would get his meaning. Emily gave him a weird look and he couldn't help but wonder what Emily thought he wanted Carri to have energy for. She probably assumed it was for something dirty. He didn't want her thinking about that, but he supposed it was better that she thought about their sex life rather than her needing energy to save the world.

"Don't worry about me." Carri snapped as she made a face. The way she felt right now, she had enough energy to pummel a small army. Which was about what she would need. "You have better things to worry about."

Rocky sighed as he dropped the subject. There was no point in continuing. Once she had her mind made up, that was it. That was one of the first things he learned about her. It drove him nuts sometimes.

Emily smiled at them. That exchange was somewhat odd, but then again Jason and his friends were somewhat odd. She started to walk away but before she could turn, she decided to ask the question that had come to her the moment she saw them. "Have you guys heard from Jason today? I was with him earlier and he got paged and ran off and it was really weird. I left a message for him at his house but I haven't heard from him since."

"I actually ran into him a little while ago, tried to get him to come down here with us." Tommy said, his mind working quickly to come up with something. "He said there was a family emergency, but if I saw you to tell you he'd call as soon as he could."

"Oh, thanks." Emily replied with a smile. It still bugged her, but she let it slide as she turned and walked away.

The other rangers sat there not speaking for a few minutes after her departure. Carri looked over at her cousin, who was definitely zoned off onto another planet at the moment. When Kat finally snapped back to this reality, she stood up. "I just remembered something I have to do. I'll catch up with you guys later." She said. She could not sit there a minute longer. She needed to go have some fun.

"Don't stay gone too long." Tommy replied with a smile. The obvious reason was that they still had a huge ranger mess to work out. Of course, the other reason was that he wanted to see her more.

"I won't." Kat promised as she turned to leave. She was only going to stay gone long enough to keep herself from wanting to hurl.

"She's way out there." Carri commented once her cousin was out of earshot. It has been a hard day for Kat, but it seemed as though even the good half of her cousin was all over the map.

"It must be difficult for her to see herself in two parts like that." Rocky replied as he thought about it. It would be difficult for anybody to face a situation like that. He could not imagine it would be easy to keep up normal routines.

Tommy shook his head. "It's my fault she's in two parts." He said with a sigh. He should have done something more to keep this from happening.

Carri leaned onto the table. She was going to quickly repay Tommy's favor of keeping her head on straight. "I thought we got past this a long time ago." He seemed to be all right with everything after Billy healed him.

"I know but I still feel like I let Kat down." Tommy replied. It was hard not to feel responsible for everything that was going on around him. It was him who couldn't save Kat. "Jason too." He added. It was because of the injuries he got not saving Kat that he wasn't there to help Jason.

"Wrong." Carri spoke quickly. She was not going to let him do this to himself. "First off even if you had been there, there was nothing you could have done for Jason. The rest of us were there, it was Mirage who did this by flipping things around. And second, you're no mind reader, there was no way you could have known what Gasket was about to do to Kat."

"I just should have known." Tommy said as he shook his head. "This is Gasket we were dealing with; I should have known to help Kat as soon as he hit her."

"There's nothing you could have done." Rocky jumped in to reassure their leader. "If it was me and Carri – I would have done the same thing. If she was ok, I would have faced Gasket and waited for her to come back into the fight. You couldn't know the phone booth wasn't real."

"I'm glad it wasn't us. Then you would have two yellow rangers." Carri said with a wicked grin. "Then you'd have a world of trouble trying to figure out which one of us was evil." She joked. She was not like Kat. She did not hold comments back or never show her temper. Just ask her mother. Despite initial reservations about her moving to Angel Grove, Josh said her mom was quite glad she did not have to deal with her daughter on a daily basis.

That got the smile from the red ranger that Carri was hoping for. He was feeling a bit better now but that still did not change the fact that there was a lot that needed to be done. He tried to push that aside as he replied to Carri's comment. "Actually you'd probably end up with the other half as the normal one. We'd probably rather keep her." Tommy teased. She had opened herself up for that one.

"Ha ha." Carri replied dryly. Although she couldn't get too angry. She wanted Tommy to stop blaming himself and smile, and for the moment, he was.

"Why don't we go spar?" Rocky suggested as the laughter died down. "It would be good to get rid of some of this stress."

"I think that sounds like a good idea." Tommy replied. They needed something to do while they waited. Moreover, sparring would let him get out some of this excess energy. Tommy and Rocky stood while Carri remain planted. "You going to join us?" he asked, looking toward the yellow ranger.

She sighed. She had much rather stay out here with the sun. Then again, she did not want to be left with her own thoughts at the moment. They would inevitably lead to Gasket and she would just get pissed off all over again. "Sure why not." She replied as she stood and grabbed her clothes off a chair. Rocky put his arm around her and the trio headed off toward the Youth Center.

* * *

"Hello Gasket." The evil Kat greeted as she appeared in front of him. She was hoping he would have something exciting for her to do.

"Katherine." Gasket replied, giving the pink ranger a slight nod. "I applaud your efforts in trying to tear apart the yellow ranger."

"All in good fun." She replied. Although she wished she had done a better job. However, those other rangers kept cutting her down. "What's next on the agenda?"

Gasket handed her a small container. "Take this." He said as she removed it from his hand. "It is powerful enough to drain the life from one ranger. It will knock them out and finish them off throughout the course of one Earth day."

A Cheshire cat like grin spread out slowly over Kat's face. This was the best gift to play with that she had ever been given. "I know just how to use it." She said as she disappeared.

* * *

Kat teleported herself into one of the hallways in the Power Chamber. She paced up and down, waiting for her prey to appear. Finally, Adam appeared out of the main room and started walking toward her.

"Kat, hey." Adam said, startled by the pink ranger's appearance. Usually the team did not slip into the Power Chamber unnoticed. "What are you doing here?"

"Nothing." Kat replied with a smile as she grabbed his arm and led him through the Power Chamber.

"Where are you taking me?" Adam questioned. This was more than a little odd. He thought maybe she was having weird side effects from having been split in half. But he honestly did not have time to deal with it right now. "We just passed my stop." They had almost cured Jason, he needed to stay focused.

Kat took him into a back room and pushed him roughly against the wall. She could have a lot of fun with this. She pressed her body up against his and started running her fingers through his hair.

Adam gulped. If this was a side effect, it was not one any of them were expecting. "Kat what are you doing?" he questioned.

"I want you." She purred into his ear. "Right here, right now."

"We can't do this." Adam protested, trying to gently push her back. She was good looking but he was dating her best friend and that was not going to change anytime soon. Besides, he was not even sure if this was really Kat talking. "I love Tanya. I'm not going to cheat on her with you."

Kat grabbed the back of Adam's head and forced it toward hers, pressing his lips up against hers as she kissed him. If he wasn't being such a drag about the whole thing, she would take it farther. As it was, Adam was protesting, so she might as well do it and get it over with. While he was distracted with her kiss, she pulled a needle out and stuck it into his neck, dumping the entire contents into his body.

Adam did not even get a chance to protest as he crumbled to the floor. Satisfied, Kat reached down and teleported him somewhere in plain sight. It wasn't going to be much fun if the rangers couldn't watch him die.

* * *

Billy glanced down at his watch as he continued to run scans on Jason. "Adam's been gone a long time." He commented. It should not have taken the green ranger more than a few minutes to go get what they needed and come back.

"I'll scan for him." Alpha said as he headed over to the consoles. A few seconds later, he noticed the green ranger. "Aye ai ai! Adam is unconscious in the park!"

"Teleport him here." Billy said as he went to one of the other medical tables. A green streak flew in and Adam's lifeless body appeared on the table in front of him. Billy immediately started running scans and got a quick result. "His body systems are shutting down. If we don't reverse this quickly it will be too late."

"Aye ai ai!" Alpha exclaimed. He had no idea how Gasket got to Adam but this was not good at all. "I will finish working with Jason if you want to help Adam."

"Alright." Billy said as he quickly started working. Before Alpha could walk off, Billy turned back to him. "We need to fill the others in."

"I'll contact them first." Alpha said as he headed toward the console. Jason was not an emergency. It would not be long before they fixed his suspended animation problem. He needed to let the others know about Adam.

* * *

Carri watched as the two boys were really going at it on the mat. She hadn't seen sparring like that in a while. Finally, they took a break and headed over toward her table for a breather. "That's quite the workout you guys have going on."

"It's keeping our minds off things." Rocky replied, grinning at his girlfriend.

Carri simply smiled and nodded. It was not keeping her mind off of things, but then again she was just sitting there. She glanced over toward Tommy as he chimed in on the conversation. "And it's a good workout." He added as their communicators went off.

The three teens immediately jumped up and strolled as casually as possible to the same spot they had been using in the Youth Center for almost four years now. Once they got themselves situated, Tommy raised his communicator toward his mouth and spoke. "Go ahead."

"Rangers, somehow Gasket got to Adam and now he's dying." Alpha's metallic voice came through.

Tommy glanced at the others as the mood immediately shifted with the news of another fallen comrade. "We're on our way." With that the three teens teleported to the Power Chamber.

* * *

"That was too easy." Kat said with a grin as she returned to see Gasket and Archerina.

Mirage let out a laugh. It was fun to see those rangers fall one by one. "Who's next?"

"We should go after the blue ranger." Archerina suggested as she turned toward Gasket. "That would tear the yellow ranger completely apart." The world would be putty in their hands at that point.

"Brilliant idea my darling." Gasket replied as he started to think about how he wanted to go about getting rid of the blue ranger.

"I'd be happy to take care of him." Mirage quickly spoke up. He was more than ready to jump back into the fight.

Gasket glanced over toward his monster. He had done so well in taking out the gold ranger; he might as well let him have another go at it. "Fine."

Kat's communicator went off and she rolled her eyes. "They must have found Adam." She said as she answered her page. A few seconds later, her theory was confirmed. "I guess I'll go pretend to care." She said before teleporting off.

Archerina clapped her hands. "This is working out better than we could have hoped for."

"Yes." Gasket agreed as he turned toward her. "Soon the rangers will be destroyed and the world will be ours."

* * *

Carri shook her head as she looked over toward Adam. "This is horrible." She said with a sigh. Gasket was coming after them one by one and they couldn't manage to stop him.

"That's it." Tommy said firmly. He didn't know how this happened; he almost didn't even care. He just knew that he was going to have to put a stop to Gasket's plan. "I will not let Gasket hurt anybody else."

"Will he be ok?" Rocky asked as he frowned. Adam was his best friend; he didn't know what he would do if something happened. He shook his head to himself. When they became replacement rangers, it seemed like the most amazing thing ever. He didn't think they quite knew all that the bad guys could do to them. Not that it would have ever changed their decisions to be rangers.

"I hope so." Billy replied. He really was not sure what was wrong with Adam yet.

A flash of pink light flew in and dissolved away to reveal Kat. "Adam!" she exclaimed, trying her hardest to give a good act. "Oh my, gosh what happened to him?" She hoped she sounded caring enough.

"We're not sure." Billy replied as he thought about it. "What doesn't make any sense is if there was a monster, or another one of Gasket's evil minions, the alarm should have gone off."

Tommy looked down at Adam. Billy was right; it did not make any sense at all. It left them with one question. "How did something get to him right under our noses and we didn't know until it was too late?" The potential answers bothered Tommy. If Gasket had a way to go out without triggering their sensors, they were in trouble.

As if to ease Tommy's mind a bit, the alarms went off. Alpha walked away from Jason's side to go check out the disturbance. "It appears as though Mirage is back rangers."

"Let's take care of him." Tommy said as the remaining three rangers shifted stances. "It's morphin time!" Seconds later streaks of yellow, blue and red flew out of the Power Chamber and toward Angel Grove.

* * *

"Pleasure to see you again rangers." Mirage said as they arrived in front of him. How was he going to dispose of the blue ranger? There were so many options; it was hard to settle on one.

"You won't be so excited to see us when we're finished with you." Tommy promised as they prepared to attack.

They moved in toward Mirage and a group of Cogs appeared before them. They wanted to get right to business but it would have to wait. "We can take them." Rocky said, grinning from behind his helmet.

"Don't we always?" Carri asked cockily, grinning just as much as her boyfriend was.

"Let's do this." Tommy said as the three of them ran into the battle. The Cogs turned out to be no more difficult than usual, and it wasn't long before they were defeated and heading home.

Mirage shook his head. So much for the Cogs wearing them down. "Now that they've had their chance it's my turn to play." He said as he shot a blast out that knocked them in three different directions. He started to charge the rangers when, to his surprise, he was met by the gold ranger.

"Jason!" Carri exclaimed, thrilled to see her friend up and moving again. It made her feel a little better about their situation. They saved Jason, they could save everyone and then they would really teach Gasket a lesson.

Jason briefly glanced over toward her and gave her a little nod, smiling from behind his helmet before turning toward Mirage. "I've got a bone to pick with you." He said as the other three rangers came up to join him.

Holding his power staff up, Jason smiled at Mirage. "Let's see how you like this." He said as he moved it in front of him. "It's time for a gold rush!"

Jason charged Mirage, who was not about to let him hit him. As soon as he got close enough to make contact, Mirage switched everything around and before Jason could stop himself, he ran full force into Rocky.

The blue ranger crumpled to the ground and Carri immediately ran toward him. "No!" she yelled as she fell to her knees and lifted up his head. "Rocky can you hear me?" she asked but got no response.

Jason knelt down beside of her. He felt horribly guilty about hitting Rocky with a gold rush. He looked over at Mirage. "You won't get away with this." He promised him.

"Oh but I already have." Mirage replied before taking off and leaving the rangers to cry over their fallen friend.

Tommy jogged over toward his friends. "Come on; let's get him back to the Power Chamber." He spoke quickly. Hopefully Billy could take care of this.

"Right." Carri said with a nod as they all teleported out. Upon arrival, they took off their helmets and saw that Rocky had been teleported straight to a medical bed. Carri sucked in a deep breath as Billy started to scan him. "Will he be alright?" she asked, working hard to keep it together.

Jason walked over and put his arm around her, giving her shoulders a little squeeze. "Of course he will be he's got Billy looking after him." He said as Carri glanced up toward him and gave him a little smile. He could tell she was tense; this had been a hard day for all of them. They would joke about this later, once everything was back to normal and they had reduced Mirage to spare parts. At least he hoped that is where this day was going.

"He should be fine." Billy replied. Fortunately, the gold rush causes physical injuries knocking him out and taking its toll. Physical injuries like that were easy for his equipment to take care of. "We've just got to let the computer do its job and everything will be ok."

Carri let out a sigh of relief as she let some of the tension she was holding onto go. She didn't know what she would do if… well she did not even want to think about it. Probably something stupid. Probably march straight up to the Machine Empire and let lose all her fury on Gasket.

"What about Adam?" Tommy asked as he glanced over toward the still green ranger.

"I may have a cure for him." Billy replied. He had been working hard to figure out how to help Adam. They were on a time restraint; he was putting everything into curing him.

The three rangers smiled, and even Kat managed to plaster a fake smile on her face. This was just great. All that hard work for nothing. Gasket was not going to be pleased. She doubted he would have known that Billy could figure out how to cure Adam. The other two were Mirage's blunders. The yellow rangers' spirits were quite high now. The guy she treated like a brother was up and walking again, her boyfriend would be fine, and even Adam might live. She was the only part of this plan that was still going strong.

As Billy went back to work, conversation broke out among the rangers. Kat watched as the others talked and joked and even laughed. She joined in some but it made her sick. They were supposed to be miserable. This was not miserable. They actually looked like they were in a good mood. This went on for a while and just when Kat thought things could not get any worse, Rocky stirred.

Carri heard him groan and her attention shifted immediately toward him. She broke away from the boys and went to his side. "How are you feeling?" she asked as he put a hand to his head and tried to sit up.

He let his girlfriend gently pull him to a seated position. He was a bit sore and had a massive headache, but all things considered he was fine. "Considering I got hit with a gold rush, I'm ok." He replied.

Jason frowned. Rocky's injuries really were his fault. "About that, I'm sorry; I should have been able to stop it."

"No worries." Rocky replied. He didn't blame Jason at all. "It was Mirage's fault, there was no way you could have known what he was about to do." He slowly slid off the table and tried to stretch his sore muscles. Now he knew what it felt like to be on the wrong end of a serious ranger attack.

Jason started to reply but Alpha did not give him the chance. "Good news rangers." He said as he hit a few buttons on one of the control panels. "I've found Kat's location and I'm pulling her on screen now."

The rangers turned to look as their friend's evil half came into focus. It was immediately evident that Kat was being held captive in a cave somewhere. Tommy made a face as he turned toward the Kat that was with them. "Why is the evil Kat Gasket's prisoner?" he questioned as he looked at her.

Carri crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the evil copy of her cousin. "That can only mean one thing."

Kat grinned at them. She didn't expect toget busted that soon but oh well. "It's been fun guys. I mean really fun, trying to be your pathetic little goodie pal. But it's time for me to take off." And before any of the rangers could grab her, Kat was gone.

"Rangers I can teleport you to the cave's entrance, but you'll have to figure a way to get through the force field and past the Cogs." Alpha quickly filled them in.

"Not a problem." Tommy said, as they all got ready to morph. "It's morphin time!"

* * *

Evil Kat teleported herself to her pathetically good counterpart to have a little chat. "Well they found me out." She said with a sigh. She was hoping for later rather than sooner but she had some good times. "It's ok though, I did take the green ranger out of commission for good."

Kat crossed her arms and tried to keep it together. "I refuse to believe that." She replied.

"It's true." Evil Kat said with a smirk. "I was just with Billy." Although Billy had said he might have a cure, but she was going to leave that part out. It was fun to watch that goodie two-shoes squirm. "Adam is dying." She added. That part was true.

"If he's dying then he's not dead yet." Kat was quick to point out. "That means there is still time for Billy to cure him." She said as she looked at her other half. Did this evil copy really come from her? It was somewhat disturbing. Maybe this evil half was why Rita had chosen to put her under her spell when she first moved to Angel Grove.

Evil Kat crossed her arms over her chest. She was always the optimist. "Billy may have been able to save Jason and Rocky, but Adam's a goner."

Kat was about to protest when she saw a blue and red figure flip over their heads. "Gasket should know better than to guard this place with Cogs." Tommy said as he hit the floor and stared at the two Kats.

"So which is which?" Carri asked from the opposite side of the two Kats. She glanced over at Jason, who shrugged. She really wanted to give the evil Kat a good kick in the ass but unless one of them volunteered that information, it wouldn't be easy to tell who was who.

"I don't think it matters." Jason said, as he looked them both over. He knew what Carri was thinking. One of them needed to learn their lesson. Nevertheless, evil or not, they were both part of their Kat. "We need both of them anyway."

Evil Kat smiled sweetly at them. Perhaps this was her ticket back into their little circle. "I'm the good Kat." She could put up with their pathetic lives if it meant she could go back to destroying them.

"Don't listen to her." Kat protested. It was going to be hard for her teammates to make a decision to who was who. "I'm the good Kat." She said, hoping they would believe her.

Rocky glanced at them both. "Why don't we go to the Power Chamber to settle this?" he asked. That should separate the good Kat from the bad one quickly.

The good Kat nodded and teleported herself away, leaving her other half frustrated. "Doesn't she suck." She mumbled. "Oh well. You are never going to be able to get me. Toodles."

Evil Kat went to teleport and all the rangers moved toward her. Before they got there, she crumpled to the ground. Standing behind her was the green ranger. "I owed her that one." Adam said with a grin.

Rocky was relieved. Their team was almost back together. "Nice to see you up and going again."

Adam nodded as Carri looked at the evil Kat. She would have loved to get the hit on her. Oh well. "Let's get back and see if we can't fix Kat." She said as Tommy lifted the unconscious teen into his arms and they all teleported off.

* * *

"Cross your fingers." Billy said as he pressed a few buttons. "I hope this works." He added.

The machine kicked in and lit up as smoke covered the two Kats that were lying under it. There was a brilliant flash of pink light and the smoke started slowly clearing away. When it was gone there was one Kat left laying there. Billy rushed over and started scanning her.

Tommy watched intently as Billy ran the scans. Finally, Billy stepped back and Tommy could not wait any longer. "Is she back to normal?"

Billy looked as the results popped up. After a few seconds, a smile crossed his face. "It looks like she's herself again."

"Good job Billy." Jason congratulated as he gave him a hearty slap on the back.

Before Billy could say anything in reply, the alarms went off. The rangers turned to see a giant sized Mirage wandering through the streets. "You guys go ahead." Billy said to the team. "I'll pilot the pink Super Zeo Zord. Even when Kat wakes up I don't want her rushing into battle."

"Right." Tommy replied. The rangers shifted and seconds later, they were teleporting to the scene.

* * *

The minute they hit the ground Tommy shifted into action. "We need Super Zeo Zord power, now!"

"I call upon the power of Pyramidas!" Jason yelled, wasting no time jumping into the action behind the others.

It was not long before the rangers were able to form the Super Zeo Ultra Zord and were staring down Mirage. He was trying to throw different scenes at them, but his illusions were not as effective when there was only one target and he was this tall.

Instead, he started taunting the rangers. "You think your pathetic toy will destroy me?"

Carri rolled her eyes from behind her helmet. "If I had a nickel for every time I heard that one." She muttered. They all thought they were tough but in the end, none of them were.

The rangers watched as Mirage disappeared and reappeared around them. They started to prepare to fire. Eventually he would show up right in front of them and they would make their move before he had a chance to blink.

Sure enough, Mirage appeared directly in front of them in order to try to get a hit in. As he lifted his hand back, they moved to fire. He had no idea what hit him until it was too late. Mirage was destroyed leaving the rangers free to go check on Kat.

* * *

"Ha." Sprocket said as he walked up to Gasket. "Looks like my big brother fails again."

"Silence!" Gasket exclaimed as he glared at him. "Not another word from you." The last thing he wanted was Sprocket's taunting. He glared out into space and balled his hands into fists. "Next time rangers I will put an end to you."

Sprocket laughed and walked off, leaving his brother to glare at him. Archerina put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about him dear, we will get those rangers."

Gasket gave her a nod. "Then the world will be ours."

* * *

"Kat, you're alright!" Tommy exclaimed as he went to give the pink ranger a hug. It was nice to see that Billy fixed her. He didn't think he would ever forgive himself if she were stuck in two pieces.

"It's great to see you back to normal again." Carri said with a smile. She was going to have to give the evil Kat a piece of her mind if she was allowed to run around much longer.

Kat smiled as Tommy let her go. It was nice to have him hug her. She wished it could be a regular occurrence. She tried not to sigh as she looked toward her cousin. Now was not the time to think about that. "It's great to be back to normal again."

"What a day." Adam said with a sigh. He almost died, Jason was in suspended animation, Kat had been torn in half… he didn't think they had seen this much action in a long time, if ever.

"Let's try to not have so many of you taken out of commission by so many different methods again. That was a lot to deal with." Billy said with a smile. It was not like when they all got hit with the same affliction. This was something different for everyone, and there was a lot of stress figuring out all the answers.

Carri snorted as Jason spoke. "We actually made Billy work today."

"Please I'm sure that was nothing for him." Carri said as she rolled her eyes in the direction of the gold ranger. She glanced over at Billy who smiled in response.

"Thank you for your confidence in me." He said as a blush crept into his cheeks. It was nice to feel needed by the rangers even though he couldn't morph with them anymore.

Rocky walked over and put his arm around his girlfriend. "And so ends another typical day in the lives of the Power Rangers."

The team looked at each other and smiled before Carri started giggling, her laugh catching on quickly with the others. They were laughing because it had been a hard day and they needed to laugh about something. It had not been typical, but it was certainly part of being a ranger. Now it was over and the rangers could finally get some much-needed time to relax.


	8. Worlds Apart, Worlds Together

**Disclaimer:** The Power Rangers belong to Disney, Scott Crane and Death belong to Adam, all other characters belong to me.**  
Author's Notes:** First off, this story was originally written by myself and another PR fanfic writer, Adam. You can read some of Adam's other fics at www . fanfiction . net /u/175378/AJP (With no spaces - I have to put them in the web address or else the website won't display it properly). This story is a combination of his AU with mine.  
This story was originally written in a different format and I have worked to switch it over. I have done my best to leave his characters be (as well as most of his original dialogue) while changing things and playing with the characters in my own world. I did take out any specific reference to Turbo (calling them the Zeo Ninjetti's old powers) seeing how in the Legacy series the rangers had never heard of Turbo before (that was totally my mistake).  
As for where it fits in with the PRZ timeline, this is where I separate the most (aside from Carri lol) with Zeo episodes. The episodes, "A Brief Mystery in Time", "A Mystery to Me" and "Another Song and Dance" would have taken place since the last fic. Also there would have been some version of "Hawaii Zeo", with Tommy asking Kat out on their first date to Ernie's party.  
Where this really differs from the timeline is that what has happened up to this point is Gasket and Archerina have fled and Mondo has returned. "Rangers of Two Worlds" hasn't happened yet and Billy is still there, neither has "Good As Gold". Those two happen a bit down the line. The events of those stories will occur similarly as they did in PRZ but there are some big changes as will be evident by the end of this fic.  
Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Ranger Scrolls  
"Worlds Apart/Worlds Together"

Scott Crane was irritated and with good reason. The day had started so well and now it was going to pieces. It had nothing to do with it being his birthday and everything to do with him being a Power Ranger. He was supposed to protect the Earth, except there were no attacks. The current evil known as Death that was attacking them seemed to have disappeared.

Scans by Zordon and Billy had determined that Death had left the moon. This should have been cause for celebration, except Scott did not believe that Death was really gone. The others thought that he was worrying over nothing, and even his girlfriend Kat said that he should forget about it. Only Tommy agreed that it was strange and they should remain on guard.

He sighed as Kat and his younger brother and fellow ranger Justin pulled him away from those thoughts. "You have to come." Justin said, begging his brother to join them.

"I don't want to go to the Youth Center." Scott replied as he gave his brother a look. He thought he had made that perfectly clear by now.

"Scott you have to come." Kat protested as she reached over and put her hand on his arm. "The others will be there."

Scott sighed. They were not going to leave him alone until he agreed to join them. "You're not going to stop until I say yes are you?"

Justin grinned and glanced over and made eye contact with Kat, who was grinning as well. They were breaking him down. He knew they would. "No we're not." He replied.

Scott shook his head and he allowed Justin and Kat to lead him out of the house and toward the Youth Center. As they got close to the rangers hang out, they saw Tommy and Kim coming toward them. "Hey guys." Scott called out, as they got closer. "Happy birthday Kim." He said, flashing a smile toward the woman whose birthday he shared.

"Happy birthday to you too." Kim replied as she smiled back at him.

Suddenly the duo felt their sight becoming blocked. Scott immediately stiffened and Kat reached out to try to calm him. "Easy, it's just a blindfold." She assured him.

"Get it off." Scott said roughly. He did not like his sight being blocked, it brought back too many bad memories.

Justin crossed his arms and sighed. "It's only going to be on for a few minutes."

"Get it off now." Scott said with a growl.

There was a rustle of movement as Kat lifted the blindfold from his eyes. "If you won't let us blindfold you will you at least close your eyes?" she asked sweetly.

"Fine." Scott replied. It was rare that he could resist a request from his beautiful girlfriend. He closed his eyes and he felt Kat lead him forward. The walk continued outside, and then he heard a door opened as they walked in.

Tommy went to lift the blindfold off of Kim as he spoke to both of them. "You can open your eyes now."

They opened their eyes and were immediately greeted by a defining shout of happy birthday from all of their friends. "Guys this is great. I don't know what to say." Kim said with a smile. Tommy had promised that her birthday would be special. He was doing a good job keeping that promise so far.

Adam grinned at her. "Try thank you."

"Thank you." Scott said simply as he gave Adam a slight smile.

"You're welcome." Tanya responded for the group.

Kat put her arm around her boyfriend and gave him a squeeze. As he looked down at her, she grinned. "So do you like it?"

"It's great." Scott replied.

"We've been planning it for weeks." Justin chimed in. He was thrilled to be able to throw a surprise party for his big brother and Kim.

"Never suspected a thing." Scott said as he glanced over at Justin, who was obviously excited with the party.

Tommy laughed. "You should have paid attention then." He teased his friend. "We were being pretty blatant about it." He told him.

Scott smiled and laughed as Kim started to lead Tommy to mingle with the other party guests. Eventually everyone started to spread out, leaving Scott alone with Kat. "Do you really like it?" Kat asked once they were alone.

"Yes." Scott said as he looked down at her. "It's great, just like you."

Kat smiled and put her hands behind his head, bringing him close to her and planting a kiss on his lips. "You're such a flatterer." She said with a grin.

Scott chuckled. "It's a gift."

They started to walk arm in arm toward the others when Kat asked the question that had been bothering her. "What was all that with the blindfold?"

Scott gave her arm a little squeeze. "It reminded me of being in Rita and Zedd's cell." He replied as he glanced down at her. "I didn't mean to upset anyone."

"I know." Kat said as she gently squeezed him back. "That's what this party is all about. Giving you a chance to forget about things and enjoy yourself." If anyone needed it, it was her boyfriend. He had been through a lot.

Scott gave her a faint smile and kissed her on her head before excusing himself to go mingle with the others. Kat sighed as she watched him go. As she watched him, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Startled, she turned around to see Kim standing there.

"Didn't mean to scare you." Kim said, smiling at Kat.

"You're fine." Kat replied as she brought her gaze back to Scott. "I'm just a little distracted."

"Still worried about Scott?" Kim asked, watching as the pink ranger gave her a little nod. "I wouldn't be. For the first time since he has returned from the dead, he is actually happy. You can take credit for that."

Kat shook her head. "I didn't do anything." She pointed out.

"Yes you did." Kim quickly replied. "More than anyone, including myself, you've been there for Scott the last few months. I think he's actually starting to act like the Scott I knew before his parents died."

"Really?" Kat questioned as she glanced over at Kim. "Do you think he's ok?"

"Yeah." Kim replied giving her a smile. "For the first time in a long time, he looks happy." She watched as Kat nodded in agreement, then she grabbed her arm. "Come on, let's go join in on the fun."

Kat smiled and nodded, and the two girls headed off to join the party.

* * *

Later that day Scott was heading through the park when he heard a noise. Turning he saw a portal appearing before him. His ranger instincts kicked in, but before he had a chance to react, a white light appeared from the portal and he got pulled inside.

* * *

The Zeo Rangers had gathered in the Youth Center as they always did after school when they did not have baseball practice or school committee meetings or anything else to get to. They were all a bit more excited than usual as spring break was only two days away and they were counting down the time until they got a break from school.

Adam sighed as he glanced around the table. For the most part, the couples were being excited with each other. Jason had snuck Emily away from her work to say hello. Tommy and Kat were holding hands and making googily eyes at each other. They had just gone out on their first date recently and since then they had been completely enthralled by each other. The last couple, Rocky and Carri, were sharing fries and a soda while arguing.

Rocky rolled his eyes as he looked at his girlfriend. "What you don't understand is LA is way better than Houston." He pointed out. The argument had started with Carri's reminder that the first series of the year between the two teams was due to start shortly.

Carri snorted. "How many more times do I have to say it? We rule, you suck, end of story." She said pointedly as she chomped down on a fry.

"Don't argue with me." Rocky said as he grinned and crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm always right."

"Ha!" Carri exclaimed as she gave him a look. "On what planet?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"You just wish you were as smart as me." Rocky teased as he shook his head.

"Oh please." Carri said as she rolled her eyes. "You know I'm smarter than you." She quickly pointed out.

"No chance." Rocky replied, as he shook his head no.

Carri leaned in a bit closer toward him. "Oh but I am."

Rocky leaned in a bit closer as well. "I think not."

Adam watched the exchange between the duo continue and he sighed. "You guys are driving me nuts." He said as they continued. "It would be funny to see the two of you in a real argument because." He stopped short once he realized the argument had ceased and the two of them had locked lips.

Not wanting to watch the public display of affection he turned toward Jason, who had Emily in his lap. "I need to get to work." Emily said as she ran her fingers through her boyfriend's hair.

"Why?" Jason questioned with a grin. "I'm the most important person in the Youth Center."

"No that would be Ernie." Emily said with a grin as she looked over at her boyfriend. "You're just the best looking."

"Oh I know." Jason said. Emily locked as with him and he smiled at her.

She smiled back as she leaned in to give him a kiss. Once they broke apart, she pried herself from his lap. "I've got to go. Ernie would kill me if he knew I sat here this long." She said as she took off.

"Good. Now I have someone to talk to." Adam said as he glanced over toward Jason. He was beginning to feel like quite the odd man out.

"What are you talking about?" Jason asked as he glanced at the table around him. He was so busy paying Emily attention that he had not paid his other friends any mind. Carri was busy with her lips locked with Rocky and Tommy and Kat were lost in each other and zoned out to the rest of the world. "Shame on you for all the public displays of affection." He said loudly.

Carri paused momentarily and threw a fistful of fries at him before turning her attention back to Rocky. Tommy and Kat snapped back into reality as Tommy grinned at his best friend. "Look who's talking."

Jason rolled his eyes. "Please. When have I ever gotten caught showing affection in public?" he asked with a smirk.

Carri broke apart from Rocky with that last comment and raised an eyebrow toward Jason. "Seriously?" She asked as she glared at him. Jason simply smiled at her in response and she threw another fry at him since she was not close enough to whack him. Jason picked the fry off the table and ate it and she rolled her eyes. "Let's get out of here." She directed the comment toward the table as she grabbed Rocky's hand and stood.

"Where are we going?" Rocky asked after he allowed her to pull him to his feet.

"Let's go play basketball." Tommy suggested as he looked up at the duo. "We haven't done that in a while."

"Sounds like a plan." Jason said as he stood and stretched.

"I'm in." Kat added as she looked over at her boyfriend and grinned. His eyes caught hers and he smiled back, putting his arm around her shoulder and giving it a squeeze before they both stood as well. She could not help the grin that stayed planted on her face. After having her eye on Tommy for well over a year she was finally with him and she could not be happier.

"Me too." Adam said as he stood as well. It would be nice to play a sport that was not baseball. Not that he didn't love baseball. However, the season had started and that was their constant focus. It was rare that they had time to do anything else. His teammates looked at him and he grinned. "I'm the basketball king." He couldn't help but add.

"Ok Mr. Basketball king." Rocky replied, grinning goofily at his best friend. "Me, you and Carri versus those athletically deprived people over there."

"Athletically deprived?" Jason questioned as he crossed his arms and glared at the blue ranger. "We'll show you athletically deprived."

"You're on Rocky." Tommy said as he slipped his hand into Kat's and led the group out of the Youth Center.

Jason paused to wave goodbye to Emily, and then jogged out the door to catch up to the others. As he approached, them and idea crossed his mind. "Why don't we call Billy and see if he wants to join us?" Ever since Billy had graduated, he didn't hang out with the others as much as he used to.

"That's a good idea." Kat said, glancing around Tommy to nod in Jason's direction.

"Then the teams will be uneven." Rocky spoke aloud. After he said it, he supposed he shouldn't have, but it was true.

"Billy never takes time to join us anymore." Jason quickly pointed out. He did not understand Rocky's complaint. Billy was a friend, they should not shun him just because he spent his days differently. "I'd rather have uneven teams than not include him."

"Jason's right." Carri said, shooting her boyfriend a look that suggested it was in his best interest to agree with her. "Billy never hangs out with us anymore."

"He's the one who stays in the Power Chamber all day." Rocky quickly pointed out, earning himself an even more venomous look from his girlfriend. He wasn't sure if it was wise for him to continue to make his point. She looked ready to kill him.

Ignoring Rocky, Jason glanced around to see if the area was clear before raising his communicator to his mouth. "Billy." He spoke quickly into it.

The response was instantaneous. "I'm here." Billy spoke quickly. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to know if you wanted to play a little basketball." Jason invited him to join the others. He heard what Rocky muttered and he glanced up to shoot the blue ranger a look. However, Rocky never saw it as Carri kicked him in the shins and he was currently crouched over. He briefly made eye contact with Carri, who smiled sweetly at him causing him to chuckle.

"Why not." Billy replied, excited at the prospect of hanging out with the others. "I'll be right down."

The communicator went silent as Rocky stood and looked over at his girlfriend. "What was that for?" he asked. He had not thought she would actually unleash any physical violence toward him. Of course, usually when Carri was angry, people were smart enough to back off. When she was mad, she could make the other rangers pause.

Carri crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. "You know perfectly well what that was for." She snapped.

"If he wants to stay hidden in the Power Chamber all the time, that's his business." Rocky replied. He saw Carri's scowl, he watched her fist tighten, and he wondered briefly just what she was thinking about. Then the fist loosed and she raised her hand to point at him shaking her head before letting her hand drop. He was somewhat relieved. He could not say anything right to her on this topic but she was keeping her temper in check.

Before she had a chance to reply, Tommy jumped into the conversation. "He's still our friend and we've kind of left him in the cold since he gave up his powers." The red ranger pointed out.

"You're right, of course." Rocky said pausing as his girlfriend gave him a look of approval. "It's just, he's obviously miserable and he won't talk to any of us."

"Maybe we should try to get him to talk." Adam suggested. If they sat him down and were persistent enough, the former blue ranger may open up to them.

Jason simply shook his head. "He won't talk to all of us."

"Maybe you can talk to him." Kat suggested. "After all, you've known him the longest." Jason and Billy went way back as friends, it would make sense that if anyone could get him to open up it was the gold ranger.

"He never talked to me." Jason replied with a shrug. He did not open up much with the male rangers. They were still friends, but he discussed his problems with the girls more than anyone else. "The only two he talked two were Trini and Kim, and since they're gone I know two other female rangers who will have to do."

Carri couldn't help but snort. "Guess we've just been volunteered." Not that she didn't like talking to Billy. However, very few people actually sought her out when they had problems. She was a really good friend and a good listener, the problem was she'd tell you exactly what she thought and not everyone appreciated that. She was not sure what Billy would say.

Kat grinned and looked over toward her cousin. "What was your first clue?" She asked as she turned back toward Jason. "As soon as the opportunity presents itself, we'll talk to him."

Before Jason could reply, a white light zipped through the sky and materialized in the form of Billy. Tommy grinned at him as he came into view. "That took a while." He teased.

"Traffic." The former blue ranger said simply as his teammates chuckled at his joke.

"Shall we play?" Adam asked as he gestured toward the court.

"The teams are going to be uneven." Rocky quickly pointed out. He was not sure how this was going to work out.

"Seeing as how you think me, Tommy and Kat are athletically deprived; one more teammate shouldn't make a difference." Jason said as he glared over at Rocky.

Rocky grinned goofily. "I like a challenge."

"Let's make it interesting." Billy said as all eyes were on him. "The losers buy the winners all they can eat at Ernie's." He was fairly certain they would win, after all they had the extra teammate advantage.

"You're on." Rocky replied as he glanced at his two teammates. Hopefully the other team would hold to that when they lost and he was ordering up a storm.

"Are you sure?" Tommy questioned, raising an eyebrow. He was pretty sure that the four of them could take on the other three easily, but he didn't want to spend a small fortune in food should they happen to lose. "You know how much he can eat."

"Don't worry about it." Billy said with a grin. He didn't have any doubts that that their team would win this game.

"Are we going to stand here all day?" Adam questioned as he looked at the others. He had been trying to get this game started for a while now but they kept finding something else to talk about.

"We're coming." Rocky said as he headed toward his best friend. "Honestly." He stopped short as the wind started to pick up, causing the rangers to shield their eyes.

"What's happening?" Kat asked as the rangers tried to group closer together. This did not feel like a natural occurrence and they wanted to be ready to snap into action if necessary.

Before anyone had a chance to try to answer Kat's question a portal opened and a figure was thrown from it. He hit the ground hard just as the portal closed behind him. The wind then died down and the rangers ran to the figure that appeared before them. Billy reached down and checked for his pulse. "He appears to be simply unconscious." He said to the rest of the group who was peering down at him.

"Should we take him to a hospital?" Carri questioned. He was not one of them, although he did just fly through a portal. However, she thought that perhaps leaving him in the hospital's hands was the best course of action.

"I'm not sure." Billy said as he held up the hand of the man on the ground. The rangers looked at his wrist, their eye's lighting up with recognition as they spotted his communicator.

"Let's take him back to the Power Chamber." Tommy said. It seemed like the logical choice. He wore a communicator, which must mean he was a ranger somewhere.

"Are you sure?" Jason asked as Tommy glared over toward him. Tommy had made the decision and he did not appreciate Jason's questioning of it. Even though Jason had been the leader of this team well before Tommy was in the picture, Tommy felt as though it was his team now and had been since before Jason left. But still, at times they both tried to fill the shoes of the red. "He could have been sent by the Machine Empire."

"I think we have to take that chance." Tommy replied sharply. He was wearing a communicator. Only rangers wore communicators. "Once he's awake we'll get answers. If we suspect something, we'll all be there to handle it."

Billy held up his communicator. "Alpha we're teleporting up now. We'll be bringing along someone who needs medical assistance."

"Aye ai ai." Alpha's robotic voice came through. Seconds after he spoke the rangers glanced around before teleporting back to the Power Chamber.

* * *

On the moon, two figures watched this development with the rangers. One in particular was furious. "How could he follow me here?" Death hissed as he turned toward his companion. "I was very careful not to leave a trace of my departure."

"Perhaps Zordon became aware of you and brought him here." King Mondo suggested. This Death character was a bit odd and he was not sure what to think of him yet. One minute he was plotting his revenge on the rangers, the next Death was at his door telling him that he would work for him or else. It did not take much more than a small demonstration of the "or else" for Mondo to make up his mind.

"It is more likely that he simply fell through a dimensional portal, but I will not discount the possibility that Zordon sent him through." Death said as he went over the possible scenarios in his head. However he got here, they needed to take care of those rangers quickly. "Mondo, prepare your Quadrafighters for a full scale assault on Angel Grove and the Power Chamber."

"As you wish Death." Mondo replied, resisting the urge to question him.

"No Mondo, as I command." Death corrected, turning back to watch the action on Earth while Mondo parted to follow through with his commands. He thought about the ranger following him and he snarled. "He will not interfere with my plans again."

* * *

The rangers were standing in the Power Chamber, waiting to find out anything they could about their visitor. Alpha was doing the medical scans while Billy was working on checking for any morphological energy.

"Well Alpha?" Kat questioned as the little robot finished.

"He will be fine. It was just a bump on the head." Alpha replied. By his calculations, their visitor would be coming too shortly.

"Billy have you completed your scan on our visitor?" Zordon questioned. Billy's was the more important of the two scans. They needed to make sure the person on their medical bed was an ally, not an enemy.

"I have." Billy replied as he maneuvered the controls to pull the results up for everyone to see. "Our visitor is definitely human. But take a look at this." He said as the energy reading from their Zeo subcrystals appeared on the screen. "These are our Zeo Crystals," he said, pausing to pull up another energy reading, "and this is the signature I've pulled from our guest."

The rangers looked at them closely. "They're almost identical." Carri commented. She had no clue what that meant, but it was easy to tell that the two patterns were somehow related.

"Exactly." Billy replied, nodding in the yellow ranger's direction. "Whoever he is, he possesses some sort of altered Zeo power."

"Zeo Ninjetti." Scott said as he sat up and put a hand to the back of his head. He was glad he was a ranger or his headache would be a lot worse.

"Zeo Ninjetti?" Adam questioned as the rangers turned to look at him.

"The energy pattern." Scott said, as the others still looked clueless. "It's my Zeo crystal and my other power combined and," he paused, noticing that none of them were getting it, "you guys have no clue what I'm talking about do you?"

He watched as they looked at him as if he was crazy. Scott sighed. "Let's start over. Do any of you know Tanya Sloan?"

Adam brightened up a bit at the mention of his girlfriend. "She was the yellow ranger but she got a recording contract and gave her powers up to Carri when she left."

"Since that's different and Rocky's on the team, I'm guessing this is a parallel dimension, possibly one with a slower time speed." Scott said as he worked through his situation aloud.

"Perhaps you should start by introducing yourself then explain." Zordon suggested. It would help if he took a step back and told them who he was and what he knew about his current situation.

"I'm Scott Crane, the White Zeo Ninjetti ranger." Scott quickly introduced himself. "On my world the team is slightly different. Tanya Sloan is the yellow ranger and Justin Stewart is blue."

Rocky glanced down at Carri who raised an eyebrow. They knew a Justin Stewart. He was young and he was a friend of Rocky's brother. He had spent some time at Rocky's house. Rocky's mother did not mind him there; the boy spent most of his days getting shuffled between foster families in the area or at Little Angel's Haven, the local orphanage. Carri glanced over at Scott. "He's only ten and he's a ranger?" she questioned.

"On my world he's fourteen. He took over for Rocky when he hurt his back." Scott replied.

"That's ridiculous." Rocky said, making a face. First off he couldn't imagine he would ever be hurt bad enough that the rangers could not heal him and he would have to give up his morpher. Second, he knew whom he would give it to. "I'd give my morpher to Billy if I was ever hurt."

"Perhaps you would have if he was still around." Scott commented absentmindedly, the ramifications of saying those words aloud hitting him once it was too late.

"What happened to me?" Billy quickly jumped in with a question. He did not like the thought that he wasn't around, he had no idea what that meant.

Scott frowned. He had already opened his mouth, perhaps it would be ok to fill in a little bit of the story. "From what I understand, you left right before Rocky hurt his back."

"Why?" Billy asked. He could not imagine a good reason for leaving his friends all alone on Earth. He loved what he did for them.

"Billy it is not wise to know." Zordon quickly jumped into the conversation. He was not sure what Scott knew about dimensional travel, but he did not want the other ranger to influence his team. It is too easy to change what is supposed to happen. "Events here may still unfold similarly to the way they did in Scott's universe."

"Understood Zordon." Billy said, backing off of his earlier line of questioning.

Tommy decided it was time to get back to the matter at hand. "Why are you here?"

Scott chuckled. "If I knew the answer to that I doubt I'd be here in the first place." He said as he reached down and put his hand in his pocket. Not feeling what he was looking for, he panicked. "I had a device in my pocket; it looked like a video recorder."

"You mean this?" Carri questioned, holding up the little contraption she had been playing with. "I was just looking at it. What is it?" For the life of her, she could not figure it out. Billy had not been concerned with it when it fell from the unconscious Scott's pocket and she took it upon herself to look it over. So far, she had nothing.

"The Billy of my dimension gave it to me." Scott replied, letting out a sigh of relief that it had not gotten lost. "It records memories."

Rocky peered over his girlfriend's shoulder to take a closer look at the device. "What's on it?" he asked.

Scott shrugged. "Ranger adventures mostly."

"Can we have a look at some of it?" Adam questioned. He was interested in the world this ranger came from. He wanted to know more about being a Zeo Ninjetti, and more about whom they were fighting against.

"I do not think that is a good idea." Zordon spoke before the Scott could say anything. It went back to his rangers becoming influenced by Scott's world. They could not afford to let that happen. "What you see in his world may change the decisions you make in ours." He felt as though Scott had already shared more than enough information about his world.

Scott nodded as a silence came over the room. Nobody knew quite what to say that did not involve prying more information out of Scott. With nothing more to do here, Rocky came up with a suggestion. "Let's go back and play basketball. We've got even teams now."

"Why not." Scott said with a sigh. The rangers knew nothing about why he was here and neither did he. He was going to have to wait until the answer presented itself. "I have a feeling I'm going to be stuck here for a while anyway."

"I see no harm in it." Zordon said as he looked at his rangers. "I will let you know if something arises."

The group of eight teleported back down to the basketball court. Rocky glanced over at the other team as they spread out on the court. "The bet is still on right? I'm hungry."

"You're over confident." Billy replied with a grin. Although now that the teams were even, there was no telling in whose favor this game was going to turn.

"Well we all know how athletically inclined I am." Rocky said with a smile. "And I taught Adam all he knows."

Tommy laughed at the blue ranger. "In that case you're team is in trouble."

Rocky simply ignored him as he continued. "And Carri's not bad."

This time his girlfriend interrupted, raising an eyebrow and whacking him on the shoulder. "Not bad?" she questioned. Granted basketball was not her sport, but she was better than not bad.

"And that leaves Scott." Rocky said, ignoring his girlfriend's comment as well. She narrowed her eyes and looked at him and he simply grinned and continued. "You any good?"

"I'd say I can hold my own." Scott replied. Playing basketball was not something he did often, but he was decent at it.

"Then it's settled." Rocky said as Jason went to retrieve the basketball. It would not be long now before the others were buying him all he could eat at Ernie's.

"Let's get this show on the road." Jason said as he moved to take the ball out. He wanted to go through this quickly so he could stick one to the over confident blue ranger.

"We should get the ball first. We've got the new guy." Adam pointed out. As far as he was concerned, it was only fair.

Jason simply grinned. "Yes but I've got the ball." And with that he tossed it to Tommy, who immediately moved in to take a shot.

The red ranger lined up the ball but he had trouble seeing from the awful glare that was coming off of the rim. It had not been there a second ago and as he looked around for the source, he saw Mondo's army coming toward them. "Quadrafighters! Look out!"

The rangers scattered as they started firing on them. "I'll get back to the Power Chamber." Billy said as he quickly teleported away.

Tommy nodded as the former ranger took off. "We'll take care of these guys." He said as his team moved into position while the Quadrafighters turned around. "It's morphin time!"

"Zeo ranger one, pink!"

"Zeo ranger two, yellow!"

"Zeo ranger three, blue!"

"Zeo ranger four, green!"

"Zeo ranger five, red!"

"Gold ranger power!"

"Alright guys. Let's call on the Super Zeo Zords and see how many of these guys we can take down." Tommy suggested. It was not the world's best plan, but it was all he could come up with. Besides their zords should be able to take them out of the sky.

"Sounds like." Carri stopped short as their party got crashed once again. "Cogs." She grumbled as the Machine Empire's lackeys filled the basketball court.

"You guys stop the Quadrafighters." Jason said as he gripped his golden power staff. "I'll handle the Cogs."

Rocky looked at the small army. "You're going to need some help." He said. He hated dividing their forces like that but they did not have much of a choice.

"Rocky's right." Tommy said, quickly rethinking strategy as his communicator chirped. "Go ahead."

"I hope this comes through, we're under attack." Billy's voice was fast and frantic. "Scott can morph using his zeo."

The rest of the message got cut off but the rangers got the point. "I'll morph. You guys deal with the Quadrafighters." Scott spoke quickly as he turned toward the others.

"Right." Tommy said as he looked toward his team. "Rocky, Carri, you guys go to the Power Chamber. The rest of us will deal with the army flying around Angel Grove."

"Not a problem." Carri replied, grinning from behind her helmet.

"We need Super Zeo Zord Power now!" Tommy called out as the five Super Zeo Zords came barreling toward them.

As the others took off in their zords, Scott went to morph. "It's morphin time! White ranger power!" The moment the white zeo uniform covered his body, he ran with Jason toward the Cogs.

* * *

Meanwhile the blue and yellow Super Zeo Zords were having a hard time trying to keep the Quadrafighters under control. "Let's pull them away from the Power Chamber." Carri suggested. It was the only way they were going to be able to destroy them and keep the Power Chamber safe.

"Right." Rocky quickly agreed. They fired on them to make sure they had their complete attention, then they slowly started backing away. The Quadrafighters abandoned their attack on the Power Chamber and instead went after the Super Zeo Zords.

Once they were clear of the Power Chamber, Rocky spoke. "Alright let's let them have it."

"Not a problem." Carri said as she maneuvered her zord to go in full force. She went for her power weapons and charged at the firing Quadrafighters. They got a few good hits in on both zords, but in the end, they were no match for the giant fighting machines. Minutes later Carri and Rocky had all the Quadrafighters on the ground and they teleported into the Power Chamber to check on the others.

"Are you guys alright?" Carri asked as they arrived in front of their friends.

"You made it just in time." Billy replied. Any longer and he feared that they would have breach their outer barriers and destroy the place.

"Aye ai ai!" Alpha exclaimed, glad that the advancing forces had been destroyed. "I thought we were going to be history."

"What's the damage?" Rocky questioned as Billy was working hard on pulling everything back up to working order.

"The damage appears to be minimal." Billy replied, silently thanking the power for small favors. With the hits they took, it should have been much worse. "We should be back online… now." He said as the other zord battle came up on screen.

"Looks like they could use some help." Rocky commented as he watched the others take on massive amounts of Quadrafighters.

"That would be our cue." Carri replied as she and Rocky quickly jumped back into action, leaving the others in the Power Chamber.

They quickly took their zords to the center of the action. Rocky landed and he grinned. "You're cavalry has arrived."

"Just in time." Kat replied. It seemed like more and more Quadrafighters were flying at them. They did not know how much longer they could hold on.

"Enough talk." Tommy said, relieved that the others had finished their battle and were able to come help. "It's time to show them what happens when you mess with the power rangers."

He could hear Carri's noise of approval over the comms as the five individual zords started attacking the Quadrafighters. Soon they reduced the army to a few and Tommy decided it was time to go full force. "Let's bring it together and take care of the rest of these guys."

Seconds later the Super Zeo Megazord was standing in front of the remaining Quadrafighters, who did not stand a chance. The rangers called for the Zeo Saber and with one swing, the Quadrafighters were toast.

"Tell Mondo that's what he gets for breaking up our game." Rocky called out in the event that there were any surviving Cogs.

"Come on; let's go help Jason and Scott." Adam spoke quickly. It was too early to celebrate yet.

The rangers' teleported back down to the basketball court just in time to see Jason hit a group of Cogs with the Gold Rush. With that final blast, the few Cogs that were remaining realized they were suddenly heavily outnumbered and they took off in defeat.

"That took the fun out of it." Carri said with a frown. She was looking forward to pummeling some Cogs.

Kat ignored her cousin's comment. "Way to go guys." She said to the two male rangers.

"Thanks." Scott replied.

"Let's get back to the game." Jason suggested. Now that the battle was over it was time to try and have some fun. The others nodded in agreement and they went back to what they were doing before they got rudely interrupted.

* * *

Back on the moon, Death was extremely upset. "I thought you said your Quadrafighters would destroy those rangers?" he questioned angrily as he turned toward Mondo. "And why is the White Ranger still alive?"

"I wasn't expecting them to use their Super Zeo Zords." Mondo argued in his defense. "As for the White Ranger, he was a much better fighter than I expected."

"Who do you think you are?" Death said with a growl. Mondo's incompetence irritated him. "You do not expect things when it comes to the rangers, you prepare for all possibilities. Rita and Zedd would have known better than that."

"Rita and Zedd?" Mondo questioned with a laugh. "I destroyed those fools' months ago."

"As usual, things may not go as planned." Death replied, simply shaking his head at the Machine King.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mondo asked, his anger with his intruder rising.

"Do not ask me questions." Death snapped. Mondo would find out the answer soon enough. "Now we must discuss my plan and figure out how to destroy the White Ranger."

"Fine." Mondo said, his irritation clear to Death.

"Not fine." Death said with a growl. "It's yes you're highness and it would serve you well not to forget that." Reluctantly Mondo repeated the phrase and Death nodded in approval. "Now come on, we have lots of work to do."

* * *

Back in Scott's home dimension, the rangers were continuing with the party that they had arranged. Minutes after his departure, their communicators went off interrupting any fun they were having. The rangers hurried to a secluded spot to answer their page.

"Yo, yo, yo." Alpha Six's voice came through loud and clear. "Hustle your multicolored butts over to the Power Chamber. We've got a situation."

"On our way." Tommy said as he started looking around. "Are we clear?" The question had been directed toward his team, and they glanced briefly around as well.

"We're clear." Adam replied a few seconds later.

Tommy nodded and they teleported out, appearing in the Power Chamber seconds later. The group quickly moved into the center of the room to face Dimitria and Zordon. Billy was the first ranger to speak. "What's wrong?"

Kat reached out and touched Billy's arm. "Shouldn't we wait for Scott?" she asked him.

"Scott is the emergency Katherine." Dimitria said as she glanced down at the pink ranger.

"What happened?" Justin asked, immediately concerned for Scott's safety.

Alpha Five moved in front of the rangers to respond to the team's youngest member. "A few minutes ago we detected a dimensional shift." He explained, watching as Billy gave a nod in understanding. "We scanned the park to examine the disturbance. We found Scott's signal beside a dimensional vortex. Both disappeared seconds later."

"Do you know where he is?" Adam questioned as he glanced from one mentor to the other.

"We have started scanning for his distinct energy signal but have not had much luck." Zordon explained. He watched as the Alpha's went back to the consoles to continue the search. "Billy, please assist the Alpha's."

Dimitria watched as the gold ranger moved to join the two robots. Glancing back over she noticed Katherine starting to fret. "Do not worry, we will find him."

"I hope so." Kat replied as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Don't worry; I'm sure he's fine." Tommy assured her. "You know Scott, he's tough. He can handle anything."

Tanya walked over and put an arm around Kat's shoulders. "Tommy's right." She said as she gave her shoulders a little squeeze.

At that moment, Billy looked up from the console. "I've found something." He said as the others looked at him curiously. This was not something they wanted to hear but they needed to know. "It appears as though the same energy pattern that sent Scott somewhere sent someone from the moon somewhere as well."

"You mean…" Kat's voice trailed off as her heart skipped a beat.

"Let's hope not." Billy replied, answering the unasked question.

"Yo, this could be some sorta coincidence." Alpha Six quickly pointed out. "Death could be in another galaxy for all we know."

"Whatever we do, let's not panic until we know for sure." Tommy chimed in. Panic was the last thing the team needed to do right now. They needed to look at this logically and figure out what was going on.

"What if they're alone together?" Kat asked. How could Tommy say not to panic? Scott could be in serious trouble. "Who knows what could be happening."

"The chances that the two of them are alone together are slim." Zordon tried to comfort his ranger. "The portal was to another Earth. Most Earth's are inhabited."

"Assuming Death didn't send them to an uninhabited Earth on purpose." Billy said as he thought aloud. "Although I doubt that's the case, the portal appears to have been random."

"Assuming it was created by Death." Adam pointed out. He thought about it for a moment. They were making a lot of assumptions here. He wished they knew something concrete.

Tanya glanced over toward Adam. "We have to assume it was. It's the only reason a portal on the moon makes sense."

"Then why send them to a random Earth?" Adam questioned aloud as he looked around at his fellow rangers.

"Maybe he wanted to send them somewhere without power rangers." Tommy suggested. It made sense. If there were no other rangers on a world, it would be easy for Death to do what he wanted.

"So he could destroy the planet?" Kat questioned, following along Tommy's line of thought.

"Most likely every Earth has its own power rangers, although not all of them are the same team with the same powers." Zordon explained. Although no dimension fell into the same scenario they did, most seem to develop the need for power rangers at some point in their history. That is not to say that ranger teams ensured that things went well on every Earth, but there was a good chance that whatever planet they went to could protect themselves from Death.

"Maybe it's best that Scott is there." Tanya chimed in. If it was a younger team with their original coins that protected a planet Death went to, they would need someone like Scott to lead. "He can help protect other Earths."

Kat sighed. Perhaps Tanya was right but that did not change her opinion. "I'd rather have him right here."

"Don't worry Kat, we'll find him." Tommy promised. "Even if we have to spend the rest of our lives searching."

"Aren't there hundreds of thousands of Earths to search?" Kat asked, feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the task.

"Yes." Billy replied simply. There was no way to sugarcoat that answer. "We're going to start searching. Just as soon as we figure out how."

* * *

Back in the alternate reality, Scott and the others headed to the Youth Center after finishing up their basketball game. "Man that was some game." Rocky said with a grin. They had won, though not by much, and the others now owed him food. All in all it was a pretty good day.

"It was." Scott agreed with a slight nod in the blue ranger's direction. "The last time I played was over a year ago. Since then there hasn't been much time for basketball."

"What's it like on your world?" Carri questioned. She couldn't help herself. She knew they were not supposed to know much but little details couldn't hurt.

"Similar to what it is here, but with some differences." Scott replied. He was unaware that someone other than the rangers was listening to him. High above on the moon, a figure followed his every word.

Death was tired of watching the white ranger have fun. "I think I'll go pay them a little visit." He said to no one in particular as he disappeared.

Seconds later the scene in front of the rangers changed dramatically. The sky darkened and flames appeared on the ground. "What's going on?" Carri asked, just as a figure appeared in front of them.

"I might have guessed." Scott said as he glared at the intruder.

"You know this guy?" Tommy questioned. He was ready for all the information Scott had on the newcomer. Especially if he knew anything about making him go away quickly.

"Unfortunately yes." Scott replied as he made a face. "Zeo rangers meet Death, Death the Zeo rangers. This is the lunatic who has been causing trouble on my home world. Although he's been gone for a month."

Death let out a small laugh. "And now you've found me old friend."

"I'm not your friend." Scott said with a growl.

"No, mortal enemy," Death paused momentarily as he shook his head, "a shame since your capacity for evil was great Dark Ranger."

Scott shifted slightly, trying to prepare for whatever it was that Death was going to throw at them. "I'm not the Dark Ranger anymore."

"I know." Death replied simply.

Tommy glared at Death. As fascinating as this exchange between old enemies was, they needed to get to the point. He stepped forward and looked him square in the eyes. "What do you want?"

"You're destruction." Death replied, the amusement evident in his voice. "I wanted to introduce myself first; after all I don't know all of you." He said as he turned and stepped toward the Yellow Zeo Ranger.

Carri braced for a fight as Rocky stepped protectively in front of her. "Don't come any closer." He warned. He was not going to let Death take any sort of special interest in his girlfriend.

"Little blue ranger trying to protect his girlfriend." Death said with a chuckle. "Nice try."

Death maneuvered to attack and the rangers stepped back, preparing to jump into action. "It's morphin time!" Tommy called out as he thrust his arms down by his side.

Seconds later, five Zeo rangers and the Gold Ranger were standing on the battlefield. Scott had not brought out his Zeonizers. Instead, he brought out the full power of his Zeo Crystal and Ninjetti spirit. "Zeo ranger seven, white lion!" He called out as a burst of light morphed him into his full form.

"Amazing." Adam said as he saw Scott appear before them. "Why didn't you morph like that before?"

"Never reveal all your cards at the beginning." Scott replied with a grin.

"And the rest of your team has the same powers as well?" Carri questioned. She would admit to being slightly jealous. His powers looked awesome. She watched as he nodded and her lips curled up into a smile. "Nice."

"Time to die." Death said, pulling the rangers back into the present. He was disappointed they morphed. Although they were more of a challenge like that and it would make it more interesting. Death raised his hands and fired bolts of energy at them, laughing as the seven rangers scattered across the battlefield.

* * *

As the rangers morphed, things in Scott's home world were starting to get a little crazy. "Yo, yo, yo, I've found our missing ranger." Alpha Six announced.

"Where is he?" Justin asked as he stepped toward the little robot.

"On another Earth." Alpha replied. Their calculations had been correct. "He's activated his Zeo Ninjetti powers."

"Of course." Billy said as everything started to make sense, at least to him. "The Zeo Ninjetti powers act as a beacon. Now we've just got to bring him back to us."

"I would suggest you find a way to get to where he is." Dimitria said as she glanced at Billy. "If he has activated his Zeo Ninjetti powers, then Death is there as well."

Tommy nodded his head in agreement. "Any ideas?" he said glancing toward Billy. They needed a way to get there and fast.

"I have something in my lab. Let me go get it." Billy said, immediately teleporting out.

* * *

Back in the other universe, the battle between the rangers and Death had escalated. Not only had Death thrown Cogs into the mix, but also he was able to create bad weather conditions to throw the rangers off.

"We're in trouble." Kat said aloud as the Cogs just kept coming. Between the Cogs and the weather, they were having a hard time fighting. "I don't see how we can win."

"Never give up." Scott spoke quickly, trying to put a stop to the pink ranger's doubts. "If he wins he will take the power of the Zeo Crystal and go back to my world. We may not be able to stop him."

Taking the Zeo Crystal was the least of Tommy's worries. If Death won that meant his team was in all likelihood gone, and the planet would not be far behind them. He did agree though, they could not give up. He knew it looked bad now but they had to stay strong. "If anyone has any ideas now is the time to share."

Before Scott had a chance to reply, a beam of light appeared and six figures stepped out of it. "Alright, it worked." Tanya said with a grin as she glanced toward the others. The grin quickly faded as she realized what they had just walked in to.

Death frowned. He had not expected the Zeo Ninjetti team to follow Scott. He was going to have to rethink his strategy. "I believe this is my cue to leave." He said before taking off with the Cogs, leaving the two groups of rangers behind.

"Let's go to the Power Chamber and get introductions out of the way." Scott suggested. The others agreed, and before anyone could take note of what was going on in the streets of Angel Grove, the rangers were gone.

* * *

The rangers looked around upon arriving in the Power Chamber, everyone immediately taking note of the doubles. "Well…" Carri let her voice trail off. "This is odd."

"Aye ai ai!" Alpha exclaimed as he looked over all the rangers as well. "How did all these people get here?"

The alternate Billy offered up an explanation. "When Scott morphed we were able to trace his power signatures here. Then all we had to do was open a portal."

"It's amazing. You all look alike yet you're so different." Scott said, more to himself than anything. He had had a chance to observe his friend's alternates and he could say that although they were the same people he knew, they definitely were not the exact same.

Scott's girlfriend walked over and put her arms around him. "It's good to see you." Kat said with a smile. "I feared the worst." She admitted as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"I had Earth's Zeo Rangers here with me." Scott assured her as he put his arms around her and gave her a squeeze. "Speaking of, although I'm sure you know some of them already, the members of the Zeo team without doubles on our team are Rocky DeSantos, Jason Scott and Carri Hillard."

The alternate Kat glanced over at the yellow Zeo ranger. She had a cousin Carri in New York who looked just like this one. Her cousin was a carbon copy of her Aunt Becky, although she was not quite as outgoing. She definitely would not leave her high society pedestal to come be a ranger. "My cousin is a power ranger?" she questioned, not able to help the giggle that escaped her lips. "I can't see it. She's too shy and couldn't hurt a fly."

Jason was the first of the Zeo's to laugh out loud, with the rest of the team following in behind him. Shy and cannot hurt a fly were the exact opposite of their yellow ranger. "Like Scott said, we're different." Carri quickly pointed out.

Rocky snorted. "That's for sure." He said as his girlfriend elbowed him. Rocky simply grinned and grabbed her from behind as the alternate Kat shook her head. They were definitely different.

"Anyway," Scott started, trying to get the conversation back on track, "the rest of the Zeo Ninjetti team is Tanya Sloan and Justin Stewart."

Rocky leaned down into Carri, whom he still had in his grasp. "I still don't see Justin as a power ranger."

Tommy ignored the whispering coming from his teammates and turned squarely to face his alternates. "Now that we all know each other, what are we up against with Death?" That was the most important question of the moment.

The alternate Tommy nodded; he would expect nothing less from himself. "Death is very dangerous. It was hard for us to fight against him on our world."

Tanya glanced briefly toward her Tommy before giving him a slight nod in agreement. "I don't know what we're going to do, but we need to defeat Death once and for all."

"But how?" Kat questioned as she thought it over. They had never faced anyone as powerful as Death before. "The biggest threat we've seen is… I suppose a giant sized Mondo."

"My alternate and I, along with Alpha and Zordon, can work to come up with something." Billy said as he glanced over at their visitor. The alternate Billy quickly nodded in agreement with his statement.

"So then what should we do?" Carri asked the question that was floating around her head as she gestured to the room full of rangers. She would help where she could, but she didn't know exactly how much use she would be to the Billys.

Jason snorted. "It's not like we can go to the park or anything." There is a story for the papers. Angel Grove teens have long lost identical twins that suddenly appear. At least that would be the best outcome for that story.

"My parents aren't home." Kat supplied as the rangers turned toward her. "I guess some of us could teleport there." It would be a while before her parents returned home from work. They should be fine.

Adam raised an eyebrow and looked at the pink ranger. "All of us?"

Kat thought it over for a moment but before she could come to any sort of conclusion, Carri spoke up. "I don't see why not." She said with a shrug. Kat glanced over toward her and she shrugged again. She lived there too she could make the call. With no one home, she did not see the problem.

"Alright. Let's go." Tanya said with a smile.

With that, the two groups of rangers' teleported down to the Hillard's house. Everyone filled into the living room, finding places on the furniture or the floor that they could sit down. Once the awkward silence settled in Carri grabbed the television remote and turned the TV on, flipping through channels until she came across a Dodgers game.

She paused briefly and shrugged her shoulders. "Eh." She said, preparing to go back to the flipping. Rocky leaned in and snatched the remote before she could, and she gave him a cruel expression while he just grinned at her. "Fine." Carri said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "But the next time the Astros are on ESPN, you are totally going to watch with me."

Carri muttered something as the alternate Kat simply shook her head. The alternate Tommy glanced briefly at his dimension's Kat before turning toward the others. "I hope we figure out how to destroy Death soon." He said to whoever was listening.

"Yeah." Justin chimed in. "It's cool to visit another world but it sucks that Death has to be involved."

"I want to teach him a lesson." Scott said as he turned his attention away from the television and focused on the conversation around him. "One he'll never forget."

The alternate Adam nodded toward Scott. "Don't we all." He said as Tanya glanced over at him and smiled in agreement. As no one else was jumping in to add anything, Adam turned his focus back toward the baseball game. It seemed as though for the moment, the two teams of rangers would be able to relax, although all were still thinking about Death.

* * *

Up on the moon, Death watched the two groups of rangers with disgust. "They have all the power in the world and what do they do with it? Watch a baseball game." Death said as he shook his head in disbelief. "If I were a ranger, I'd attack this planet with everything I possessed."

"Well you're not a ranger are you." Sprocket pointed out as he walked up and stood beside him. He did not like Death being there. His father recently returned and he had just gotten rid of his older brother, he was looking forward to things going back to normal.

"What great powers of observation you have." Death said as he eyed the Machine King's son. Sprocket seemed to not understand the message Death wanted to send so Death ignored him and moved on. "I think it's time for Mondo and myself to take a hand in this struggle."

"What do you suggest?" Mondo asked as he moved in to stand beside his son.

"We have a unique opportunity to eliminate two sets of rangers." Death pointed out as he turned toward Mondo. "And what better way to do it than by our own hands."

"I tried that once and I was defeated." Mondo was quick to inform him. He did not want to disappear like that again, not now. In the few months he was gone his eldest son moved quickly to sweep in and make a mess of things.

"Only by luck." Death replied. Mondo was quick to think of the negative. "My powers will boost yours and the rangers will be no match for you. While you take care of the Zeo Rangers, I'll destroy the Zeo Ninjetti." Soon they would get rid of both teams and they would both be able to get what they wanted.

* * *

Back in the Hillard's living room, the group had been watching the game for a while with no interruptions. Except for the occasional word from Rocky, which would inevitably start a fight with his girlfriend over whose team was better. The fight usually ended with a tossing of a couch pillow by one of the other Zeos.

Scott was sitting on the floor, ignoring the current argument and the fact that the resident Kat was in the process of whopping her cousin with a pillow. He was having a hard time getting comfortable and he was starting to fidget. He leaned forward to adjust his position and realized his shirt had scooted up in the back. He tried to pull it down quickly but it was too late.

"What happened to your back?" Carri asked, her current debate with Rocky immediately forgotten the moment she saw the other rangers' scars.

Scott turned toward Carri and noticed that all the Zeo Ranger's eyes were currently on him. "I got them courtesy of a stay with Zedd and Rita." He replied as Carri raised an eyebrow. "We were on another planet when we were ambushed by Cogs. I stayed behind so the others could escape and I was captured and tortured by the duo for months." He elaborated.

"Didn't the others try and rescue you?" Kat asked, in disbelief that any team would allow one of its members to be tortured that long.

"The evidence said he was dead." The alternate Kat replied. "We found the remains of his morpher and a piece of his shirt covered in blood. Thinking he was dead almost destroyed the team."

"But you obviously carried on." Tommy pointed out as he observed the alternate.

"Barely." His alternate replied. "In the weeks after we thought Scott was dead, we almost lost both Adam and Kat." Tommy paused to think about those times. It was hard for the team, they were lucky it all worked out in the end.

"What do you mean?" Adam questioned. He knew he should not ask about the other Adam's life, but at the same time that statement bothered him and he felt as though he needed to know.

"I blamed myself for Scott getting killed." The alternate Adam spoke quietly at first as he looked at the others. "Tommy and Billy had been taken out of the fight. I should have taken charge." Adam paused and shook his head. He had felt horribly responsible for the situation and nothing could make him feel better. Well, almost nothing. "I started taking drugs."

"You?" Rocky questioned, wide eyed as he looked at the alternate of his best friend. Adam was… well he was Adam. He could not imagine him using drugs. "You don't seem like the type."

"You don't have to be any sort of person, it just happens." Tanya spoke in his defense. It would be hard for the Zeo Rangers to understand what the situation was at the time, hard for them to understand what Adam was going through.

"What happened to you?" Kat said as she locked eyes with her alternate. If Adam had taken drugs, she could not imagine what Kat could have done.

The other pink ranger frowned at the question. "I attempted suicide." She said simply as she could feel the tears coming to the surface. "Fortunately I didn't do a good job and Tanya found me before it was too late." She said as a stray tear fell. "I thought… I thought if Scott was dead then a piece of me died with him, and all I wanted to do was join him."

The tears were falling freely by that point as Scott put his arms around her and pulled her into him. The Zeo Rangers remained respectfully silent as she buried her head into Scott's chest. "I should have known you were still alive." She finally spoke. "I knew you were the white ranger from the moment we saw you."

"How did you know?" Scott questioned, loosening his grip and allowing Kat to look up at him.

"You've always had that presence that sometimes can be comforting." Kat said as she smiled at him. "I guess because I was so close to you I just felt it when you appeared."

Scott grinned at her. "If you knew, why did you give Billy such a hard time about not telling you?"

Kat sat up and wiped the remaining tears away. "Now you're ruining my fun."

Scott laughed and the other rangers followed. As the laughter died down, silence fell over the group again until Jason spoke up. "Game over. Dodgers win." He said as he nodded toward the television.

Carri rolled her eyes heavenward. "Please." She said as she sunk back into her seat. "It was the Cubs. The Angel Grove Tigers could beat the Cubs."

Adam grinned at the thought of their high school team taking on the Cubs. "I could hit for the cycle." He joked.

"Even I could hit for the cycle." Carri replied with a shrug. She did not think too highly of the Cubs. She kept an eye on all her division rivals. As the announcers had already pointed out, the Cubs were winless this year, and this loss would make for their twelfth in a row. At this rate, it was going to be a long five months for Chicago, never being able to catch up to her first place Astros.

Rocky gave his girlfriend a look. "You can't hit at all." He said as he shook his head. "Adam and I have that cycle thing covered though."

Carri gave him a murderous look as she picked a couch pillow off of the floor and smacked him with it. He laughed which only prompted her to smack him again. Before she could say anything, their communicators chirped. Carri dropped the couch pillow as they went to answer their page.

"You guys need to get up here now." One of the Billy's said. No one was quite sure which one but it did not matter as they all jumped up and teleported away.

* * *

Billy watched as his friends and the alternate team teleported in. Once they were all settled he spoke. "It seems as though Death and Mondo have taken things into their own hands."

Scott looked at him curiously. "What are you talking about?"

"Take a look for yourself." The alternate Billy replied as he gestured toward the viewing screen.

The rangers turned to see Death and a giant sized Mondo attempting to destroy things and taunting the rangers to come out and join them. "A giant sized Mondo?" Adam questioned, shaking his head. This was his downfall last time. "Nothing we can't handle."

"And we can take care of Death." The alternate Tommy added.

"Then it's settled." Tommy said as he moved into position, the rest of his team following. "It's morphin time!"

"You guys, wait!" Billy called out in an attempt to stop the rangers. However, it was too late. Flashes of light flew out of the Power Chamber and the rangers were off, unaware of the danger they faced.

* * *

Death stood smiling as the rangers materialized in front of him. "Welcome rangers to your end."

"The only one who's going to meet their end is you." Scott assured him as he glanced toward the other team of rangers. "You guys go ahead and call on your Zords to take down Mondo. We can handle Death."

"Good luck." Tommy said as he separated his team from the group. "We need Super Zeo Zord power, now!" On his command the five zords came barreling toward them and the rangers jumped into them. "Let's pull them together." Tommy said the moment he got situated.

"Alright Mondo, you're going down." Rocky said, as the megazord formation was complete.

"I've been waiting for this moment rangers." Mondo said as he stared into the megazord. "This time I hold the ultimate card."

"I think I've heard that before and we're still here." Carri was quick to point out.

"Not for long." Mondo replied as he moved in to attack.

While the battle with King Mondo started at skyscraper height, on the ground Death was preparing for his battle by calling on Cogs to assist him.

"I can handle them." Jason said, as he looked the group of Cogs over. "You guys take care of Death."

"Are you sure you can handle that many?" Billy questioned. He turned to Jason who did not reply, simply gave him a thumbs up as he ran to attack the group.

Scott watched him run off to distract the Cogs. As Jason disappeared into the group, he turned towards Death. "Looks like it's just you and us now."

"I would not have it any other way." Death replied. "However, it appears as though I'm at a disadvantage. There is only one of me to the seven of you. But I think I can correct that." He glanced over the Zeo Ninjetti, and then to their amazement he spilt himself into three people.

"Amazing." Justin said, in awe of his enemy.

"Split up into groups of three." Scott spoke quickly, working through the best course of action. "If he's split himself then perhaps he's weaker."

"It's worth a shot." Tommy replied as he, Billy and Kat took one of the copies and Adam, Tanya and Justin went after the other.

Scott found himself one on one with the Death left standing in the center. "Looks like it's just you and me."

"Just as you wanted white ranger." Death said as he moved into position to battle him. "I've been waiting for this a long time."

"So have I." Scott said simply before jumping to attack his greatest foe.

* * *

In another part of the city, the rangers found themselves struggling with Mondo. The King of the Machine Empire was quite pleased with this turn of events. "Give it up rangers." He said, the amusement clear in his voice. "If you do I may spare you." Perhaps he could make them his slaves. That would be interesting.

"Not in this lifetime." Tommy replied sharply.

"You can't say I didn't give you a chance." Mondo replied as he reached his hand out and a sword fell into it.

Adam looked at Mondo as he came toward them. "We need to take him out fast. Something doesn't feel right."

"I know what you mean." Tommy said as he prepared for the oncoming attack. "It feels like he's toying with us." As he spoke, the words Mondo struck the megazord and it staggered back.

"If you had been paying attention that wouldn't have happened." Carri was quick to point out. They had been thinking about the end of the battle instead of focusing on the present.

Tommy jerked his head quickly in her direction. "Thanks for pointing that out." He said sarcastically as they pulled the megazord back to its feet and jumped back into the battle.

While the Zeo Rangers were focusing on a giant Mondo, their teammate was dealing with the Cogs as though they were not even there.

Jason took a few of the Cogs out and repositioned himself so he could get a better view of the remaining ones. "You guys should go ahead and give up."

The Cogs did not listen to Jason and continued as more of their buddies teleported down. Jason found himself knee deep in a sea of Cogs, and was starting to be pulled down by the masses jumping on top of him. Unfortunately, no one was able to come to his aide as the rest of the rangers on the ground were focusing on the three Deaths.

Justin had not a clue how Jason was doing, he was too busy paying attention to Death. However, the attention did not last long as Justin was young and easily distracted. All it takes is one second for the fight to swing from one direction to the other, and for one second Justin caught something out of the corner of his eye. In the brief time that he turned away, he was lifted off of his feet and slammed into Tanya, both rangers stunned and falling to the ground.

"Two down, one to go." Death said as he turned toward Adam. Before Adam ever had a chance to react, bolts of energy struck him and knocked him off of his feet. "None to go." The image of Death vanished, leaving the three rangers on the floor and out of the fight.

The main Death found himself quite pleased. "Well white ranger, three of your comrades are down. The others will be following shortly."

"Not if I can help it." Scott replied as he attacked Death once more, only to get beaten back again. "Zeo power weapon!" he cried out. Seconds later, Saba appeared in his hands and he started to attack again. This time he was driven back with bolts of energy. Without warning, Death changed directions with his bolts and fired them toward the Youth Center. For a second nothing happened, then a spark appeared and one of the secondary buildings surrounding the Youth Center exploded.

"What will you do now ranger?" Death taunted. He knew there was not much inside that building of value, it typically held nothing more than storage and dry goods and other miscellaneous items. But he also knew that two people near and dear to the rangers were in there at that very moment doing some work, and that there was only one door to the outside, a door that was currently engulfed in flames.

"What do you mean?" Scott asked as he glanced over toward it. The main building appeared to be alright as people were evacuating quickly.

"Will you keep on with our fight or will you rescue the people in the building?" Death questioned as he smiled evilly at the ranger.

"There were people in there?" Scott questioned. Death's laugh was enough of an answer and Scott's mind was made up. He surprised Death with a quick roundhouse kick, knocking him off of his feet as he ran toward the building. "Alpha can you teleport the people out of the building?"

"I was only able to get one of them." Alpha replied his robotic voice frantic as Ernie was teleported out in a flash of white light.

"I'm going in." Scott said decision made as he rushed toward the building and burst through the flame-covered door. His helmet filtered out the smoke as he searched through the debris looking for the second person. Finally his search was rewarded as he saw the lifeless woman on the ground. "Notify emergency services, I've found her." Scott said as he got close enough to recognize her. He lifted her into his arms and started toward the door before realizing he could not safely get her out. "You're going to have to teleport Emily out."

"Done." Billy said as Emily disappeared from Scott's arms. "There's someone behind you."

"I kno…" Scott did not get to finish speaking as he got slammed across the building. "That hurt." Scott grumbled as he tried to pull himself to his feet.

"It's going to hurt a lot worse when I'm done with you." Death promised him. Before Scott could react, Death slammed his fist into him and hurled him back to the ground.

Scott pulled himself up and he felt the air against his cheek. "This can't be good." He said as he realized his helmet was now cracked.

"But it is for me." Death said as he made bolts of energy explode around Scott.

Scott looked over at him as the energy bolts started. He knew he only had seconds at best, but sometimes seconds are all that's needed for things to change.

* * *

Moments later, the three remaining Zeo Ninjetti were still in their battle with the other image of Death when he disappeared. As he left, something got flung toward them.

"What's that?" Billy asked as they all approached the object.

Kat looked at it and her heart started racing. She ran to it and picked it up as the others gathered around her. One look and it was evident that she was holding Scott's charred and burnt helmet in her hands. Kat turned and ran toward the burning building as the fire department arrived to start putting out the flames. "Scott!" she called out as she ran. "No! This can't be happening!"

"Kat wait!" Tommy called after her. They were short rangers and they still had a battle to face. Billy and Alpha would have been watching Scott; they needed to help the others. He watched as Kat stopped and turned toward him. "Me, you and Billy need to help Jason right now."

"Where are the others?" Kat questioned, her heart sinking. This battle was quickly deteriorating.

"Adam, Tanya and Justin were teleported to the Power Chamber for immediate medical assistance." Billy quickly filled her in on what she did not know.

"Oh my." Kat said, her eyes growing wide behind her helmet as she rushed back with the others to help Jason.

* * *

The five Zeo rangers were still taking quite a beating from King Mondo. Adam was furiously working the controls trying to get things going their way. "This shouldn't be happening." He said to no one in particular.

"Where's Pyramidas when you need it." Carri grumbled as she slammed her fist down on a panel out of frustration.

"We can't hold out much longer." Kat pointed out, seconds before Mondo once again knocked them off their feet.

The ranger that they needed to help them was Jason, and he was under a pile of Cogs, only able to see the grey of their uniforms. He thought he was at the end of his rope when the Zeo Ninjetti's came to his rescue. Jason let out a sigh of relief as the three of them got the pile of Cogs off of him.

"Thanks guys." Jason said as he stood.

"Any time." Tommy replied as he glanced up at the megazord. "We'll finish the Cogs, your friends need your help."

"Right." Jason agreed as he moved to call on Pyramidas.

The others would not make it much longer without Jason's aide. They were struggling with Mondo, and their zord could not take much more.

"Our power is getting low." Rocky informed the group. If they did not come up with something soon, they were toast.

"We have to keep fighting." Tommy spoke with determination. If they lost power they were more than likely toast, but he would not give up. "We can't let Mondo win."

"It's too late rangers, I have already won." Mondo taunted as Tommy pulled the staggering zord up. Mondo issued one quick blast that knocked the rangers out of the zord. As the rangers hit the ground, they powered down.

As they hit the ground, the Zeo Ninjetti rangers, fresh from their fight with the Cogs, ran to check on them. When they got there the others, who were forming bruises from the fall and most likely had broken bones, were struggling to get up.

"We have to morph." Tommy said as he slowly pulled himself to his feet. "Mondo's going to destroy the city."

"Hang on." The alternate Tommy said, holding his hand out and trying to get his double to sit back down. "You just fell from the megazord, powering down and hitting the ground. You need medical attention."

Tommy ignored his alternate as he and Rocky went to help their girlfriends stand. All five rangers moved slowly to a standing position but none of them looked anything close to battle ready. They were having a hard time standing up without support.

"Look!" Carri said, her enthusiasm rising as she pointed to Pyramidas. "We've got to get back up there so we can form the ultrazord." Morphing would help the pain, and she figured the adrenaline would take her the rest of the way. They had to do this.

"You guys go to the Power Chamber, let Billy check you out." The alternate Billy insisted. The others looked like they were about to protest and he continued. "We can pilot your megazord and form the ultrazord."

Tommy grabbed Kat as she wavered. Perhaps they were right, perhaps they were not going to do this fight any good right now. If Billy could help them quickly, they could get back out. "Fine." Tommy said as his team reluctantly teleported away.

The Zeo Ninjetti immediately jumped into the abandoned megazord while Jason was holding off Mondo in Pyramidas. "Are my friends ok?" Jason asked as soon as the others were on board.

"They'll be fine." Tommy quickly replied as they picked the megazord back up. The rangers wasted no time pulling their zords together to form the ultrazord.

"Let's show Mondo our firepower." Jason said as he moved into position. Seconds later the ultrazord fired, and Mondo got knocked off his feet.

The Machine King stood, and for the first time he looked into the zord's cockpit. "Zeo Ninjetti?" he questioned. This was not part of the deal. He was supposed to be destroying the Zeo rangers. "If I'm not fighting the Zeo rangers, this fight is pointless. As for you Gold Ranger, I'll destroy you and your friends all at once." As Mondo finished his speech, he disappeared.

Jason shook his head. Mondo chickened out on them just when they got a good hit in. He supposed they would worry about him later. They really needed to go check on everybody. "Let's get back to the Power Chamber." Jason said as the rangers took off.

* * *

"So Dr. Cranston will they live?" The question was somewhat joking somewhat serious, and although Jason's reference to Billy made the rangers smile, they for the most part ignored it and waited for the answer.

"The Zeo's are fine. They'll be sore for the next few days though." Billy said as he glanced back at the other team. They were stubborn; they wanted to rush back out. He thought he was going to have to put a force field around them or something. "Tanya and Justin are fine; they should be coming too soon." Billy turned his attention toward the three remaining Zeo Ninjetti. "Adam… well the blast was powerful. I have fixed what I could. Right now he's stable."

"And Scott?" Kat asked, hopeful that there was some news.

Billy was not quite sure what to say. Fortunately Alpha stepped in. "There's no sign of Scott's life signs."

Kat stood in shock as tears started to stream down her face. "You mean he's…. dead?" she asked, struggling to get the word out.

"It is possible he is still alive. We will continue searching." Zordon told her, although his words were no comfort as the tears fell faster.

The alternate Tommy put an arm around his friend and allowed her to cry in his shoulder. As she did, he turned toward Billy. "What about the people in the Youth Center?"

"Those in the main building were fine, the fire department got there before the fire spread." Billy quickly filled them in. "We were able to teleport Ernie out in time, but Emily is at the hospital in critical condition."

"Emily!" Jason exclaimed panic hitting him as the Zeo rangers came to join him.

Carri put a sympathetic hand on her friend's arm. "Will she be ok?"

"I'm not sure." Billy admitted. He had not had a chance to get into the hospital records and seriously check on Emily's condition. He had too many rangers that needed his attention.

"If I wasn't tied up with the Cogs." Jason paused and shook his head. He could have helped Emily he could have helped Scott. "I need to see her."

"Don't blame yourself. There's nothing you could have done." Carri spoke quickly. Jason and Tommy were a lot alike. They both felt as though there was always something they could have done better.

"Rangers, if you wish to go see Emily go ahead." Zordon said before Jason could argue his point further. Perhaps it would help the team if they went to see her and heard what the doctors had to say. They needed to all be focused to defeat Death.

"Are they letting her take visitors?" Rocky questioned. He didn't think anyone would be allowed in besides immediate family.

"I don't think so." Billy said as he shook his head.

"Then we'll sneak in." Jason replied, quite determined. He glanced and Zordon who did not say anything in reply. This was not normal ranger behavior, in fact it normally would not be allowed. However, this was not a normal situation and Zordon was willing to make an exception.

The six rangers teleported themselves down to a spot in an alleyway behind the hospital. "We'll distract the doctors and ask how Emily is." Tommy said as he gestured to the bulk of the team. "That should give you the opportunity to sneak in and see her."

"Thanks bro." Jason said, giving him a nod as he led the others into the hospital. They paused at the front desk to get Emily's room number then headed up. Upon getting to her floor, Tommy immediately spotted the doctor speaking to the nurses and he and the others went to surround them and ask questions, leaving Jason alone to sneak into Emily's room.

He headed in quickly and closed the door. He started walking toward her and paused, a fresh wave of tears and anger surfacing. Taking a deep breath, he walked over toward her. "Oh God Emily I'm so sorry." Jason said as he glanced down at the soft features of her face. "If I had been there you wouldn't have been hurt."

"And perhaps you would be lying in the hospital bed in the next room." A voice said from behind him.

Startled Jason turned to see the owner of the Youth Center standing there. "Ernie, I didn't hear you come in."

"I know." Ernie replied with a chuckle as he stepped toward him. "Don't beat yourself up over this; you would have done everything to help her if you could. She was lucky the white ranger was there."

Jason gave Ernie a slight nod. "If I ever meet him I'll thank him." He said, thinking briefly about how Scott's status, whether or not he was alive, was unknown.

A silence settled over the room. Ernie was thinking about the white ranger as well. News reports were saying he'd been killed. Ernie shook his head and glanced down at Emily. "We had better go. We're not supposed to be here and Emily needs her sleep."

Jason could not take his eyes off of her although Ernie was right. He nodded in agreement with Ernie before leaning down and kissing Emily on the cheek. Glancing at her one last time, he turned and followed Ernie out to find his friends waiting for him.

"How is she?" Kat asked the moment Jason was in view. She knew what the doctor had said, but she wished she could see her for herself.

"She's asleep at the moment." Jason replied. He did not know how she was. He had not bothered to try to read her charts. He supposed she looked as good as could be expected.

"The doctors say she'll be fine." Tommy assured him. She had a minor concussion, a few burn related damages and minor injuries, but overall she was doing really well. "We need to get going though if we're going to meet our friend."

"Yeah, right." Jason said as he turned back toward Ernie. "If Emily wakes up will you tell her I'll drop by later?"

"Of course." Ernie replied as he looked at the six figures standing in front of him. "Good luck kids."

Carri made a face as they hustled toward the exit. Good luck kids? "Do you think he knows?" She said aloud as she worked through scenarios in her head.

"Sounds like he does." Rocky replied. It was his first thought as well.

"We'll deal with that later." Tommy quickly pointed out. If Ernie knew, he seriously doubted the Youth Center's owner would spill their secret. They had bigger things to worry about besides talking to him.

"Yes I'd like to pay Death a little visit." Jason said, glancing over at his teammates as they reached the bottom floor and headed back out toward the alleyway. As they teleported away, Jason could not help but think about how Death was going to pay for this.

* * *

On the moon, Death found himself highly amused with the gold ranger's comments. "I'd like to see him come visit." Death said. It would be the last trip he ever made.

"This is perfect." Mondo said as he stepped up beside Death. "The rangers are weakened."

"Yes. With Scott Crane's death I have crippled the Zeo Ninjetti rangers." Death replied, not bothering to turn and acknowledge Mondo.

"How have you done that?" Sprocket questioned.

Death snapped his focus toward him. Mondo's youngest son was starting to annoy him. "The blue ranger is Crane's brother and nothing is more important to humans than family. The pink ranger is his girlfriend and last time he was gone she almost died."

"Then we must attack now." Mondo said with determination.

"Indeed." Death agreed, turning his attention back toward the rangers. "With the same tactic as before seeing as how it worked so well."

"This time those rangers will be utterly destroyed." Mondo replied, his excitement showing.

"Prepare your best Cogs. We're going to destroy the power rangers." Death said. As Mondo walked off Death began to laugh. He had been waiting for this moment.

* * *

Back at the Power Chamber, the six Zeo rangers appeared to see the Zeo Ninjetti rangers back on their feet. "It's good to see you all up and moving again." Tommy said as he glanced at the three injured team members.

Adam and Tanya offered small smiles while Justin did not react, he simply stared straight forward even as Kat was talking to him. Carri watched him for a moment curiously. "What's with the little one?"

"He's been like that ever since we told him about Scott." The alternate Billy replied as he glanced toward the Zeo rangers. "Scott is Justin's brother, and although they didn't know it when he first became a ranger, since then they've become very close."

"It must be hard losing your brother twice." Tommy said as he thought about it. He had not known his brother for long, but he could not imagine what he would do should anything happened to him, especially if that something involved Mondo taking him away.

"Zordon I am detecting some strange readings from Scott's last known location." Alpha said, pulling Tommy's thoughts away from his brother. "There is Death's energy signature and Scott's Zeo Ninjetti, plus one more I cannot identify."

"Let me take a look." The alternate Billy said as he rushed over to the console and joined the other Billy and Alpha. He glanced at it for a moment before a smile spread across his face. "This belongs to one of Scott's other power sets."

"So he's alive?" Justin questioned, getting excited.

"I think he activated his other powers and escaped." The alternate Billy theorized. "If he escaped and switched to his Ninjetti powers, he'd be practically undetectable by our sensors."

The alternate Kat grinned and looked over at Justin. "So then he is alive?" she asked, wanting a straight answer to Justin's question.

"Not only alive but right here." Scott said from behind them, watching as all rangers turned and looked at him. His little brother screamed his name and jumped from his perch, running over to give him a hug. "I take it you're glad to see me."

"Man I should have known you were ok." Justin replied with a grin as he let his brother go.

"I hate that I made you worry." Scott offered up somewhat of an apology. "I wanted to keep a low profile and let Death think he'd gotten an advantage."

"I think you did that." The alternate Kat said as she approached him, her arms crossed over her chest and her blue eyes glaring at him. "Now you jerk if you ever do that to me again I'll kill you."

Scott locked eyes with her and worked hard not to smile. "Would it help if I said I'm sorry?"

"Only if you said it a million times." Kat replied, doing her best to stay mad at him. She locked eyes with Scott who was working hard to maintain a serious expression. Eventually the façade failed and he drew her into a kiss.

Carri raised an eyebrow as the kiss got more intense by the second. This alternate Kat was… different. Not that she did not think Kat and Tommy kissed however Kat was never into this serious of a public display of affection. Finally, she decided she was through watching them. "I hate to break the mood, but we have bigger things to deal with."

Scott and Kat broke off their kiss as Scott nodded in agreement. "We have to destroy Death." Scott said simply.

"There were extraordinary amounts of energy coming from both Death and Mondo." Billy shifted to fill them in on their previous battle. "I believe that Death is using an alternate power source. If we can find it and destroy it, we may be able to weaken Death, although it's hard to say how much of its power he's already absorbed."

"What about Mondo?" Tommy questioned. There were two parts of this equation. Death was the first part, but their battle with the Machine King was another. In addition, something had been off about that first battle. "That sword he was using was stronger than anything we've ever seen."

"It's not from this dimension. Its power source is greater than that used by Death. As far as I can tell Death is powering him." Billy replied filling them in on everything he had so far.

"So Mondo helps Death fight and Death powers Mondo, and together they try to get rid of all of us." Rocky worked through his thoughts aloud. He glanced around the room as the others nodded in agreement.

"The Damaclese sword was powerful." Carri pointed out; reminding the others of the last fight they had had against Mondo. "So powerful that it eventually became unstable. That's how we destroyed him."

"This sword has more power and it's more stable." Billy said, immediately stopping any line of thought Carri was on.

"The ultrazord had some effect." Jason pointed out as he thought over their options. "What about the Super Zeo Ultrazord? Could that weaken him enough to defeat him?"

"You may be able to weaken him." Billy said as he considered the possibility. "But with him using that sword, you'd need more power than that to defeat him."

"What if we destroy Mondo's secondary power source?" Tommy questioned. It would work with Death, why not with Mondo. "Will we be able to destroy him then?"

Billy paused for a moment. "Yes, I believe you will." He replied as he worked through the scenario in his head. "It is most likely that by destroying his power source the sword will become nothing more than a copy of the Damaclese sword."

"So then that destroys Mondo, but what about Death?" Justin questioned. They had fought him before, he considered him to be the more serious threat.

"Rangers there is still much that we do not know." Zordon reminded the two teams in front of him. "We cannot say with any certainty how to destroy both Mondo and Death."

"We can't let them win." Scott was quick to point out. "If they defeat us, Death will take our powers and make two sets of evil rangers." Then both this world and Scott's home world would both get destroyed. He would never let that happen.

"Or take us and brainwash us into being his evil rangers." Tommy replied. He knew all too well how spells made rangers evil. He could not serve the forces of evil again.

"We can't let that happen." Jason pointed out. The others were not around to see evil Tommy but he was. That would be a terrible fate for the world if they were all turned and Tommy led the way. "We have to figure out how to destroy them."

"Aye ai ai!" Alpha exclaimed, overwhelmed by the situation. "Rangers we are looking for the power source. Once we find it we will figure out how to destroy it."

Kat watched as both Billy's moved into place to help Alpha. "How long will that take?"

"I can't say with any certainty." Billy replied as he glanced over toward Kat. "Let's just hope Death and Mondo stay put long enough for us to find it."

* * *

On the moon, Death and Mondo were busy preparing for their second great attack. Mondo walked over to Death and stood by his side. "My Cogs are ready." He informed him.

"Good." Death replied, staring out over Earth. "The time to attack is coming soon."

"But what if the rangers find your extra power source?" Sprocket questioned. He had seen too many failures to think that this grand plan would end any differently.

"Do you not think I have accounted for that?" Death questioned angrily as he turned toward the prince. "If they can find it, then actually destroy it, I do have another plan."

"Which is?" Mondo questioned. He was not aware of any sort of backup plan.

"If it comes to that I will tell you." Death replied sharply. "You will not be privy to more than you need to know." The less he knew, the less he could screw up.

"Why don't we send monsters down too? That way there's no way the rangers will win." Sprocket suggested.

Mondo shook his head no. "Good idea son but this is something I want to take care of myself."

"Put some of your best monsters on standby." Death ignored Mondo's reply. Sprocket actually had something useful to add for once. "It's best to be prepared for anything, especially where the rangers are concerned." Death watched as Mondo nodded in agreement before sending Klank off to follow through. "Now that we've covered all aspects, it's time to attack."

"Let's show those rangers the last thing they'll ever see." Mondo replied as he and Death teleported out.

* * *

In the Power Chamber, the others were still looking for the power source when the alarm went off. "Aye ai ai! We almost have it." Alpha fretted.

"Go ahead." Billy said as he glanced toward the others. "We'll contact you when we have something."

"I'll stay." The alternate Billy suggested. They needed him here to help with this task. "You'll need someone to take the power source out when you find it."

Zordon watched as the remaining rangers moved into position. "Be careful rangers. They are very dangerous now." Both Tommy's nodded and went to morph. "May the power protect you." He said as the two teams of rangers disappeared.

Seconds later, they reappeared in the city, standing behind their foes. "Hold it right there Death." Scott called out.

Death turned around and glared at the white ranger. This could not be happening. "Why won't you just die?"

"Shall we get down to the fight?" Carri asked, not interested in listening to the banter between Death and Scott. Besides, maybe it would help to hit while they were still surprised by Scott's appearance .

"How right you are." Death said as he eyed the Yellow Zeo ranger. "I believe it's time for Mondo to grow." As he spoke a bolt of energy shot from Death, hitting Mondo and sending him to city wrecking size.

"Here we go again." The alternate Tommy said as he glanced up at Death.

"I have an idea." Scott said as all eyes turned toward him. "Perhaps it's time for a change in tactics."

Before Scott could elaborate, a voice came over their comms. "Guys we've located a transmitter that's pointed in your direction. It seems to be directing energy into Death and Mondo's sword. I've sent my alternate to destroy it."

"Good. Send him immediately to us once he's finished." Scott replied as the communications silenced and he turned back toward the others. "As for my idea, I think the Zeo Ninjetti should call on our zords and the Zeo's should hold off Death."

"You guys had trouble with him and your powers are more advanced than ours." Tommy was quick to point out. He was not leading his team into a suicide mission.

"If Billy plays his part, he'll be weakened enough for you to take him, at least until we stop Mondo." Scott replied. In theory, it would not be a problem.

Carri grinned. Crazy as the idea was, she would not mind taking a stab at Death. "In the absence of a sane plan, I vote for this one." She said, watching as her teammates reluctantly nodded in agreement.

"Good luck." Tommy said as he gathered his team and ran toward Death.

Scott turned toward his team as the Zeo's ran off. "Ok rangers let's do it." He said as the team shifted into position. "We need Zeo Ninjetti Zord power now!" The command given, bolts of energy flew from the chests of the rangers and the zords appeared. The rangers wasted no time teleporting on board. "Tommy do a strafing run on Death. That should shake him up a bit and allow the Zeo's to attack him."

"You read my mind." Tommy said as he turned toward Death. The Red Falcon Ninjetti Zord flew low and fired rockets at Death, sending him crashing back and giving the Zeo rangers the perfect opportunity to attack. "Alright let's form the Zeo Ninjetti Megazord." Tommy said as he flew back toward the others.

Mondo watched as within seconds the five zords pulled together and formed the Megazord, leaving the Lion Ninjetti Zord alongside it. Mondo was not pleased with the switch in teams but he figured he would easily take out the Zeo Ninjetti then turn toward his rangers. "Klank, now." He ordered his minion on the ground.

Klank swung Orbus around and seconds later, a monster became transformed into Megazord size. Mondo laughed at the rangers. "Now what will you do?"

"Guys you take care of Mondo." Scott spoke quickly. "I'll work on creature feature over there."

"Be careful." Kat's voice came through Scott's helmet.

"I will." He assured her as the battle began.

* * *

Across town, Billy had teleported near the device. "What direction?" he questioned the resident Billy in the Power Chamber.

Billy studied the schematic in relation to the ranger's position. "About ten feet to your left."

The alternate Billy turned and started in the correct direction. "I see it." He said a few seconds later. "This has more power than anything I've ever seen. It's too bad we have to destroy it, we could have put it to good use."

"I have you on screen now." Billy said as he got a good look at what his alternate was staring at. "You're right, but we have to destroy it for the sake of the city."

"Agreed." The alternate replied. He took one last look at the contraption before stepping back. With one swing of his weapon, it was gone.

* * *

Meanwhile the rangers were trying to keep pace with Death, who had brought some Cogs into the picture. Death was finding the situation rather amusing. "You pathetic rangers are no match for me." Death taunted them. "I have ten times more power than anything you've ever seen before."

Tommy kicked a few Cogs away as he moved in to regroup with the others and face Death. "You'll never defeat us."

"We shall see." Death said as he brought his hand back, gathering energy to throw bolts at the rangers. He laughed, as the Zeo's were unable to scatter with the Cogs in the way. He hurled the bolt of energy their way while they looked desperately for a place to jump. They never got out of the way, as the bolt hit them head on. Much to Death's surprise, the bolt hardly did any damage.

"Hey guys." The alternate Billy said as he teleported down to the scene.

Rocky grinned from behind his helmet as he turned toward Death. If Billy was here than the power source had been destroyed. "You were saying?"

"You found my source. I applaud you rangers." Death replied as he glared at them. "It appears as though my powers are weakened for the moment."

"And now you're going down." Jason replied as he ran toward Death, Rocky and Tommy following close behind him. He was going to pay for what he did to Emily. Jason was planning on ending this now.

While the others fought Death, Adam led the rest of the rangers, including Billy, into a battle with the remaining Cogs. Their battle was starting to rev up as Mondo was continuing to attack the Zeo Ninjetti Megazord.

With the advanced technology in their zord, the Zeo Ninjetti rangers were finding that they were having more luck fighting against Mondo than the Zeo's did. "We should have done this to begin with." Adam pointed out. "Then Mondo over here would have been destroyed."

Mondo laughed at the ranger. "No ranger, Zeo or Zeo Ninjetti can defeat me." He said as he son teleported to the scene.

"Dad, dad!" Sprocket exclaimed as he jumped up and down, trying to get his giant father's attention. "There's something you need to know."

"Not now son." Mondo said, trying his hardest to ignore him so that he would not give the rangers an advantage. "Can't you see I'm busy destroying the rangers?"

"But dad it's about the pow"

"Later." Mondo spoke quickly, cutting Sprocket off before he could get the words out. "Now unless you're going to sit here and watch me in silence, leave."

Justin noticed Sprocket drop his head and teleport himself back home. The young ranger grinned behind his helmet as he realized what the Prince came to say. "Billy must have done it."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Tommy asked as the megazord moved to launch a full-scale attack on Mondo. They quickly discovered that just as Billy predicted, his sword was no better than the Damaclese sword.

"What's going on?" Mondo bellowed as he took a hit.

"You should have listened to your son." Tanya replied seconds before the megazord took care of Mondo. At the same time Mondo went down, Scott took his monster down as well, leaving the only active battle the one against Death.

The battle on the ground suddenly became easier as once Mondo was defeated the Cogs were called back, leaving only Death to battle. Death was still tough as he tossed Tommy back. The red ranger landed at the feet of his yellow teammate. Carri cocked her head and grinned as he pulled himself up. "Need some help?" she asked, ready for her crack at Death.

"Come on and join the battle." Tommy replied as he turned back toward Death.

"With pleasure." Kat said as she and Carri ran toward Death, just as he threw Jason and Rocky off of him. The girls issued him a kick in the midsection and sent him flying backwards.

As Jason stood, he reached for his power staff. "Let's see how you like a gold rush." He said, running toward Death as he stood. Death never had a chance at getting out of the way and was blown back by the gold rush. "That will teach you to mess with us."

Death stood and looked around the battlefield, noticing for the first time that he was all alone and that the rest of the Zeo Ninjetti were coming to join their friends. "Looks like my comrades have left me." Death stated as he glanced at the thirteen rangers. "No use trying to fight in this weakened state. But don't worry rangers, I'll be back."

"Good job guys." Scott said as Death teleported himself away. "Let's get back to the Power Chamber."

* * *

On the moon, Death was anything but happy. He immediately turned toward the annoying son of the Machine King. "Where is your father?"

"That stupid sword you gave him turned out to be just as useless as the Damaclese sword." Sprocket said, pouting as he spoke. "He'll be gone for a long while. But don't worry, he'll be back."

"I cannot believe that Mondo allowed that to happen." Death said, shaking his head. He had warned Mondo to be prepared. It was evident that the fool had not listened to a word he said. "No matter, I will just defeat both sets of rangers on my own."

"Is that possible?" Sprocket questioned, a thousand things running through his head. It would be great if the rangers were gone, but his dad was not around to take over. He hoped his stupid brother would not return to claim the planet.

"Assuming I get my full powers back, yes it is." Death said. When he was ready, he was going to take out two world's defenders at once. Then he would get everything he wanted.

* * *

Billy was there to greet the rangers the moment they arrived in the Power Chamber. "Congratulations guys. In defeating Mondo, you have destroyed him for the time being."

Before the rangers could celebrate, Scott brought up another important question. "What about Death?"

"Death is weakened." Billy replied. He definitely took a hit when the machine was destroyed, but it was not enough. "There's no doubt in my mind he'll attack again, either now or when he gets some of his strength back."

The rangers nodded their heads in agreement before drifting into their own thoughts about the situation. Rocky was the first one to break the silence and speak. "I've got an idea." Rocky said as all eyes turned toward him. "We've got several megazords. If Death attacks again at city wrecking size, we should be able to take him down."

"If he attacks again and if he attacks at city size." Justin was quick to point out.

"He'll attack again little bro." Scott said as he turned toward him. "You can count on that."

Tommy nodded in agreement. There was not any doubt in his mind that they would be facing Death again soon. "And we'll be ready for him."

* * *

On the moon, Death finally came up with an idea. "Klank." He called out, watching as Mondo's aide came running toward him. "Prepare every last Cog you have. We're going on a little trip to Earth."

"As you command." Klank said, giving him a slight bow before taking off.

"What's your plan?" Sprocket asked as he stepped up beside him.

"There's an old saying about things coming to those who wait, but I hate waiting." Death said as an evil grin spread across his face. "I'm going to attack them with everything I have. Tell the Quadrifighters to prepare for the attack."

"Attack where? Downtown?" Sprocket questioned.

"No, that's too simple." Death replied. He was going to hit them where it hurt. "The Power Chamber." It was time to tear the ranger's home apart.

* * *

Moments later, hundreds of Cogs appeared on the desert floor. Their arrival didn't go unnoticed by the rangers. "Aye ai ai!" Alpha exclaimed frantically. "We've got visitors."

"Rangers observe the viewing screen." Zordon said, watching as the group of thirteen positioned themselves to see what was going on.

"Crap." Carri's one word sentiment summed up the other's thoughts. There were mounds of Cogs heading straight for them.

"Well." Scott stated as he let out a sigh. They knew there was going to be a fight. "Let's get out there and kick some butt."

Zordon watched as all thirteen rangers morphed. "Good luck rangers and may the power protect you."

Tommy nodded in the direction of his mentor before turning toward Alpha. "Open the outer doors."

Seconds later the rangers were running toward the exit, heading outside and into the desert. Toward the front of the group was Scott, and when he stopped suddenly, the others stopped behind him. "Guys I have an idea." He said as he pulled the group together.

It wasn't long before the group was running to meet the Cogs head on, ready to enact Scott's plan. The rangers immediately split up into groups, the five Zeo rangers on one side with the five Zeo Ninjetti on the other, and the two gold rangers and white ranger on their own in the middle. The Zeo's called for the Zeo Cannon while the Zeo Ninjetti's called for their Zeo Blaster.

As the two powerful weapons appeared in the groups hands, they fired them. Before the dust settled, Jason and Billy reached for their staffs and ran in with a gold rush while Scott called for Saba and went for a white lightning strike. The attack came to an end and it was obvious that the odds had shifted. Death's powerful army had fallen to only a few.

"Come on Billy, I think we can take care of these by hand." Jason said as he gestured to the remaining Cogs. Billy nodded in agreement and the duo took off. It did not take long for them to destroy the rest of the Cogs. When they were finished, they moved back in with the others to face Death.

"You have destroyed my entire Cog army." Death said bitterly. "No matter, I can still destroy you. Quadrafighters, attack!"

The rangers looked up just in time to notice they were getting shot at. They scattered out of the way without taking their eyes off the skies. "It doesn't look like there are as many as last time." Adam pointed out.

"Right, which means only a few of us need to deal with them." Tommy replied as he glanced toward Death. "The rest will take care of him."

"The Zeo Ninjetti and I, along with Rocky, Carri and Jason can go after Death. Can the rest of you handle the Quadrafighters?" Scott questioned, stepping forward and taking charge.

"Not a problem." Kat replied as she turned toward Tommy. "Shall we attack with the Super Zeo Zords again?"

"You two use the Super Zeo Zords. I have another idea." Tommy said as he shifted position. "Red Battlezord power now!"

"We need Super Zeo Zord power now!" Adam called out. The Zords flew toward them and seconds later the three Zeo's disappeared as the battle with the Quadrafighters began.

Death looked over the remaining rangers. "Ten of you at one time?" he questioned as though he was amused. "You would think you'd leave some at home. That way when I destroy you all there would be some rangers for later."

The alternate Tommy glared at him. "The only one getting destroyed is you."

"Whatever you want to believe." Death said with a shrug as he threw three bolts of energy at the rangers, sending them flying in two directions.

Scott stood and glanced over at his fellow rangers. "Let's show him our firepower." He suggested as everyone reached for his or her weapons.

Rocky and Carri were the first to launch an attack, firing their Zeo Blasters at him. Those did nothing but shake Death up, but as soon as he recovered, the Zeo Ninjetti fired their blasters, sending him flying backwards. Attacks from Jason, Billy and Scott quickly followed that blast.

Carri smiled satisfactorily as Death appeared to be down for the moment. "That will teach you to mess with us."

"Wait a second, he's getting up." Tanya said, surprised that he could take a beating like that and survive.

"You silly rangers, your weapons cannot destroy me." Death taunted as he stood.

"He must be back at full power." The alternate Billy observed. It was the only way he could survive an attack like that.

Seconds later, Kat, Tommy and Adam teleported back down beside of them. "I don't think we have to worry about the Quadrafighters anymore." Kat said, grinning from behind her helmet.

Her alternate nodded. "Now we just have him to deal with." Kat said as she gestured toward Death.

"And when I'm finished with you, you will wish you only had the Quadrafighters to deal with." Death promised them. He was alone but it was no matter, he would still kill them all. They could not stand up to his power.

Jason looked over and made eye contact with Billy and Scott who both nodded at him. He was done with Death tormenting his friends, his community. This was going to end now. "This is the last time you are going to mess with us."

With those words, the trio ran to attack Death. As they got ready to jump up and kick him, the Earth stared shaking and they got thrown back and to the ground. Once the shaking was over the two teams looked up to see a giant sized, more powerful Death.

Death looked down at his tiny enemies. "Now I shall crush you like ants."

"That's what you think." Tommy said as they all scattered out of the way of his incoming foot. "Let's use Rocky's plan." He called out to the others.

The others quickly agreed although Rocky was somewhat confused. "Wait a second; you're going with my plan?" His last plan to take on Mondo himself had not gone very well.

"What's the problem?" Adam questioned. He thought for sure his friend would be happy if they went with his plan.

"If we die I'll never hear the end of it." Rocky replied. He could hear his girlfriend snort and he imagined her rolling her eyes from behind her helmet.

Tommy ignored Rocky and turned toward the rest of his team. "Adam, you and Carri take the Zeo Megazord. Kat and Rocky take the Super Zeo Megazord. And I'll pilot the Red Battlezord." With Tommy's orders handed out, the rangers called for their zords and disappeared.

Scott looked out over his team once they were gone. "You guys take the Zeo Ninjetti Megazord. Billy and I will use our old megazord."

"Good luck." Kat said as she disappeared with the Zeo Ninjetti rangers into their zord. She looked back briefly as Scott and Billy called for the other megazord while Jason jumped into Pyramidas.

Death looked over at the four megazords and two separate zords that were facing off against him. "A bit of overkill for one person don't you think?" he questioned, somewhat amused. He should be able to destroy them all without any problem.

"Not when that person is you." Tanya was quick to point out.

"Very well then." Death said simply as he grinned wickedly at them. "Time to die rangers." With those words he attacked, his speed being his advantage. He side stepped a blow from the Red Battlezord and hit the Zeo Megazord. Before Pyramidas could get a shot off, he moved, causing the gold ranger's blast to hit the Super Zeo Megazord.

"This is getting out of hand." Scott said as he watched Death move around quickly and cause destruction. "If we don't figure something out soon we're totaled."

"Well then, let's fly." Billy said, glancing over at Scott as they activated their jets and flew toward Death. As they got closer they initiated their megazord spinout move, and it hit Death with such a force that it sent him reeling.

"We need the Super Zeo Zord saber, now!" Kat called out, watching as the sword fell into their hands. They struck Death and the second they pulled away both the Red Battlezord and the Zeo Megazord hit him.

Death staggered back and looked at them angrily. "This isn't over Zeo Ninjetti. I will destroy you one day, count on it."

Before the rangers could do anything else, Death returned to the moon. He looked around and growled. "Those blasted rangers, my plan is destroyed." He said as he slammed his fist down. "I think it's time I return to my own dimension."

With that, he was gone, leaving the Machine Empire to pick up the pieces left from his visit.

* * *

Back at the Power Chamber, the rangers were busy celebrating their victory. "Congratulations rangers on your success." Zordon spoke to the two excited teams. "Not only have you saved this world and this dimension, but you've saved Death's home dimension as well."

"We couldn't have done it without the Zeo Ninjetti's help." Tommy quickly pointed out as he turned toward Scott. "Thank you."

"It was no trouble." Scott replied with a smile. "Anytime you need help, just give us a ring and we'll be there."

"And vice versa." Rocky quickly added in. He would be happy to answer the call to go to their dimension after everything they did here.

"Guys, let's go home." The alternate Billy said, watching as his teammates agreed.

Billy hit a button and a portal appeared. Everyone quickly said their goodbyes and the Zeo Ninjetti rangers headed through and went home. Once they were gone, the Zeo's also said their goodbyes and headed home as well.

* * *

A few days later back in Scott's home dimension, the white ranger found himself walking through the park when Kat called out to him. He spun around as he heard his name and grinned at the pink ranger. "Hey Kat."

"Hey yourself." Kat replied as she approached. "How are things?"

"Fine." Scott said cringing. He had not talked to her much since he had been back, he felt somewhat guilty for that. "Sorry I haven't been around; I had some things to do."

"Oh?" Kat questioned, raising an eyebrow. "If you don't mind me asking, what?"

"I went back to Seattle to visit my parents' grave, with it being my birthday a few days ago." Scott quickly replied.

"You could have told me. I worry about you." Kat said. After everything, they had been through, any time he disappeared without her knowing what was going on bothered her.

"I should have told you, but I didn't and I'm sorry I didn't and I should be thanking you anyway." Scott rambled on as he glanced down at Kat.

"What for?" Kat questioned as she looked up at him curiously.

"For being the person you are. Because if you weren't I wouldn't be able to recover from the last year's events." Scott said as he locked eye with her and smiled.

"I'm here to help." Kat replied as she smiled back.

"I know you are and I love you for it, I always will." Scott said as he leaned forward and pulled Kat toward him, gently kissing her. The kiss grew more passionate before Scott pulled back, looking at her and grinning before taking her hand in his and walking off.

* * *

In the universe that Scott and his friends had just left, Carri was sitting with Kat and Billy in the Youth Center, enjoying the first Saturday of spring break, while three of the remaining rangers were sparring. They were lucky that they had a Youth Center to sit in. After Death's visit, one of the secondary buildings had been completely destroyed. The fire department had gotten there fast enough to keep the flames from spreading to the main building.

Although Ernie's storage was toast, the main building was structurally sound and he was given the ok to serve patrons and allow the kids to come in and work out. Between the work of a local company and a secret nighttime visit by the rangers, the destroyed building had been cleared out and on Monday they were going to be able to start construction on the replacement building.

That was not the only thing Death's visit had touched. Emily was still recovering from her injuries, and some of the team could not stop thinking about him. "That was probably the most difficult thing we ever encountered." Billy said, his words quite random.

"Death?" Kat questioned, waiting as Billy nodded in conformation. "How did we get on that topic?"

"I was just thinking about it." Billy replied with a shrug. "And how quiet it has been the last few days."

Carri grinned. "Yes but quiet is good." She pointed out. Quiet meant she could go to baseball practice and on dates and hang out with her friends without worrying about where the Cogs were going to turn up next.

"I suppose." Billy replied. He was not completely sure at the moment. Quiet could mean a lot of things, and some of them caused him to worry.

Carri looked up as Rocky, Adam and Tommy came over to their table and sat down. Rocky put a sweaty arm around his girlfriend and kissed her on the cheek. "Aren't you going to shower first?" Carri asked as she pushed his arm off of her new shirt.

"We will." Rocky replied, grinning goofily at her. "That was quite a workout. Are we allowed to have water first?"

Carri sighed and shook her head yes, as Tommy spoke. "That was one of the most intense workouts in a long time."

"This is the first time in a while we've had a chance to work out like that." Adam pointed out. Usually it was school, baseball, or Mondo and they just never had time to themselves.

As Adam finished speaking, the final member of their team walked in. "Hey guys." Jason greeted as he walked over and pulled up a chair.

"Hey." Carri said as she flashed him a smile. "How's Emily?"

"Good." Jason replied. Emily had been released from the hospital the day before and was supposed to take it easy for the weekend before she could start to try to get back to her usual routine. "She's ready to break out of her house and get back to work."

Carri chuckled. "That doesn't surprise me." She replied. Emily loved working for Ernie at both the beach club and the Youth Center.

Jason smiled and nodded in agreement. He was not the least bit surprised when she begged him to get her out of the house. However, he refused to go against doctor's orders. "She said to tell you all hello."

Silence settled over the group. Adam glanced toward Ernie before looking back toward his friends and leaning into the table. "We're all here and Ernie's all alone. You guys want to talk to him?"

"Good idea." Jason replied, nodding in the green ranger's direction. "We need to know what he knows."

The seven rangers stood and walked over toward the counter. Rocky, Carri, Kat and Tommy sat on the stools while Adam, Jason and Billy stood behind them. After they greeted Ernie, Tommy got to the conversation they needed to have. "So, did you hear that the power rangers saved the world again?"

"That doesn't surprise me." Ernie replied, grinning at the teens in front of him. "They're a great group of kids."

"If I didn't know better I'd say you know them." Carri spoke in a teasing fashion.

"Better than you think." Ernie said. He could not help but wonder how long they were going to play this game before they flat out asked him.

Jason decided to go with the direct approach. "So you know who the power rangers are?"

Ernie nodded in response. "Practically since day one." He said as he looked at them. He could see their curiosity, and before any of them could open their mouths, he continued. "My office is right below your teleportation spot. I could hear every word, hear names being called out through the connecting vent. It wasn't hard to figure out your colors." He chuckled. They always wore outfits that matched their ranger colors. "Don't worry though; nobody else has access to my office."

"Who would have thought that all this time you knew." Kat said. The comment was spoken aloud but it was more to herself than anything.

"I'm good at keeping secrets." Ernie replied with a smile before walking away to take care of his other customers.

"That settles that." Tommy said as he walked off. All these years and they have never had any idea. He supposed it was all right, after all he never told anyone.

Rocky nodded in agreement, as he turned toward his girlfriend. "How about I shower then we go out?"

Carri grinned and shrugged her shoulders. "As long as there's a shower in there." She teased. He jumped up, kissed her on the lips, then turned and ran for the showers.

Kat chuckled as he left before turning toward Tommy. "Are we still on for tonight?"

"Yeah." Tommy replied, leaning in and giving her a quick kiss. "Let me shower." He said before taking off to follow Rocky.

Jason turned toward the two remaining guys. "There's a new action flick out. You guys interested?" he asked. Billy and Adam quickly agreed, giving all the rangers a way to enjoy their peaceful day.

* * *

Out in space things weren't as peaceful. The Machine Empire was under a massive attack, and without Mondo around, they were slowly being destroyed. Eventually their entire facility became engulfed in flames, leaving nothing of Mondo's once mighty empire. Out of the smoke, the Space Skull appeared with several fighter ships flying around it.

"I can see the Lunar Palace from here." Lord Zedd said triumphantly. He knew they would get back there eventually. Now to start where they left off, get rid of those power brats, and conquer the planet.

Rita Repulsa giddily moved up to step in between her husband and father. "Thank you daddy for destroying the Machine Empire for us."

"Death did the hard part by getting Mondo destroyed." Master Vile replied as he glanced over at his daughter. "Crushing a defenseless Machine Empire was easy."

"Death was quite a fighter and an evil genius." Zedd spoke. "Fortunately we were able to track him back to his home dimension. If we ever decide we need a hand in destroying those rangers we should pay him a visit." With the two of them working together, they could accomplish anything.

"Or we can just go there and destroy another Earth." Rito Repulsa chimed in. That was, after they conquered this one.

"For once you have a good idea." Zedd said as he glanced over at his brother-in-law.

"I plan on destroying those rangers with my bare hands." Goldar said with a growl. He had been dreaming of his revenge for a while.

"You'll get your chance." Rita promised him.

"Hey Ed," Rito said as he moved in front of Zedd, "when we get home can I torture the rangers?"

Zedd lifted his staff as he felt himself get angry. A second later, he took a deep breath and put it back down. "You know, I'm not even going to get mad at you this time."

"Why's that?" Rito asked. It was unusual for Zedd not to get mad at him.

"Because." Zedd said with a grin. "We're back!" Zedd then gathered Rita, Rito, Goldar and Finster to teleport them to the Lunar Palace. It was time to start working on a new set of plans that would allow them to finally destroy those rangers and conquer Earth.


	9. An Old Friend

**Disclaimer:** As usual all things rangers belong to Disney, everyone else is mine.**  
Author's Notes: **This takes place a few days after "Worlds Apart/Worlds Together", during the rangers spring break. This is still before Billy leaves and Jason loses his powers.

Ranger Scrolls  
"An Old Friend"

Carri found herself sitting in the Youth Center on the first Monday of her spring break, trying to watch last week's gymnastics National Finals, the competition that determined who qualified for the Pan Globals. Between the noises of the construction going on over at the secondary building of the Youth Center that had recently been destroyed, to the noise of the guys she was hanging out with, she was finding watching difficult.

"All of the gymnasts are too short." Matt Drake complained as he watched the next girl launch into her floor exercise routine. "I want a good looking gymnast."

"There's a candidate." Jerry Millwood said excitement in his voice as he pointed to the screen.

Carri sighed. She should not have expected anything more from them. She grew up with these guys, and although they didn't see each other as much as they did before she moved to New York, it was obvious they hadn't changed. "Can we watch without talking about the sex appeal of the candidates?"

"She's right." John Blackmond chimed in with a grin. "We don't need to focus on gymnastics. We've got our own good looking girls right here in Angel Grove."

Carri rolled her eyes heavenward as Luke Wright muttered "kiss ass" under his breath. Carri chuckled and tried to focus on Bart Conner's analysis of the routine they had just seen.

"Kimberly Hart's floor is nearly flawless. This should all but secure her a spot on the US Team for the Pan Global Games." Bart Conner spoke, pausing as some of the scores starting coming in. "It looks like Jenny's balance beam score is a 9.75." He said referencing an earlier competitor. "As for Kim… wow I haven't seen a score this high in a long time. Kim's floor was a 9.910."

"I could do that." Carri joked. Although her gymnastics skills were limited to the tumbles and flips required for cheerleading.

"Prove it." Matt teased. Carri did not like to be wrong; it would be interesting to see what she came up with.

"Ok." Carri replied with a shrug. She walked over to the mat the boys usually sparred on and then did a cartwheel and a back flip, throwing her hands up at the end as if to acknowledge the judges. "See." She said with a grin.

"Well you're no gymnast but I'll give you a ten for effort." John joked.

"Kiss ass." Luke said, this time quite a bit louder than the first.

"I give it a ten for looks." Matt said with a goofy grin as she walked back toward them.

"Not the look of the flip but yours." Jerry added as he, Matt exchanged a high five, and Carri smacked him on the shoulder. Jerry shot her a look. "I was trying to be nice."

As Carri rolled her eyes and sat down, someone else went to try their hand at gymnastics. This person did a cartwheel, two back flips plus a full twist and a handspring. The Youth Center cheered as Jerry leaned over toward Carri. "I think she's better."

Carri whacked him again as she stood and walked over to the mat, curious as to who showed her up like that. "Excuse me." Carri said. The girl turned toward her and Carri immediately recognized her as the girl from television. "You come into my Youth Center and you show me up like that?" she questioned, raising her eyebrow and smiling at the intruder.

Kim took a moment to look the girl over, noticing her yellow attire and the communicator fastened to her wrist. She thought it was a fairly safe assumption that this was the new yellow ranger. "It didn't take much." Kim replied, sly grin of her own as she joked back with her.

"That so?" Carri questioned as she and the newcomer glared at each other.

Finally, Kim could not keep it up any longer and she cracked a smile as she extended her hand to make a formal introduction. "Kim Hart."

"Carri Hillard." She replied, taking the outstretched hand and shaking it. She was surprised when Kim pulled her in close and whispered something into her ear.

"Original pink ranger." Kim whispered. "And I assume you're the new girl in yellow."

Carri smiled and nodded. That would make her the girl that Kat replaced, the one she always referred to as "the ranger before me" when speaking of Tommy's ex-girlfriend. Kat never talked specifically about her, her knowledge about Kim was limited to Kim's break up with Tommy. Kim's letter bothered her as much as it had the red ranger. However, she elected not to hold it over Kim's head before she got to know her. Mainly because Tommy wasn't hurting as much anymore, and their breakup led him to paying Kat attention, eventually asking her out.

Carri turned toward her table and gestured for Kim to follow her. "In that case I suppose you can join me."

"How privileged." Kim said sarcastically as she went to sit down with the yellow ranger. Tommy really had not told her much about the new ranger, other than the fact she was Kat's cousin. So far she was… interesting.

As Carri sat at the table with Kim, her other friends stood to leave. "We've got to go; we've got a soccer practice to make." Matt said as he grinned at Carri's new friend.

"Bye." Carri said, waving and flashing them a smile as they said goodbye back and took off.

"Who were they?" Kim asked out of curiosity. She did not think they had anything to do with the team. She was pretty sure they went to Angel Grove High, but she knew they hadn't been friends of theirs.

"Old friends of mine who think you're hot." Carri said with a grin. Kim chuckled as Carri scooted in to the table. "So you're the original?" she asked as Kim nodded in conformation. "I never actually got your name. Kat's always referred to you as the girl she replaced."

"Really?" Kim questioned, somewhat curious. Maybe Kat was jealous and that is why she did not talk about her? As for the others… well she had been gone eight months by the time Carri joined the team, it was not like she was a hot topic. Then there was the letter…. Well she doubted anybody wanted to talk about her. She tried to shake that thought off as she continued. "How's the team doing? Are you guys keeping on top of the team activities?"

"Everyone is great." Carri replied, wondering just what she knew about what was going on. "The Zeos continue to kick Mondo's ass daily so." She smiled and shrugged.

"Zeo?" Kim asked. She had to assume that was the team. Tommy hadn't given her any specifics about ranger related happenings when they were together, he was too afraid of letters or calls being intercepted. "Your power?" She questioned in as few words as possible. Carri nodded and she continued. "My personal one was from the crane. Before that it was the pterodactyl."

"Huh." Carri said as she thought about it. They never talked much about what happened before Mondo, before the Zeo crystal. She did not know what powers they used or whom they fought against. "Out of curiosity, what was Rocky?"

"Initially tyrannosaurus." Kim replied simply. Carri obviously understood. She was trying to keep their conversation quiet and minimal. "But his personal one was the ape."

"Ape?" Carri repeated with a grin. "No comment." She said as she slid back into her seat. That was enough ranger talk for now. She assumed they would have a more private time sometime to talk in detail. "Congrats on making the Pan Globals." Carri said. Although she had not finished watching the program, Kim's spot had seemed pretty secure.

"Thank you." Kim replied with a smile. "I've been training for a while for this. It's been my dream." She replied. The dream she gave up everything for. She hoped in the end it was all worth it.

"Good luck." Carri said, just as a cold hand came up from behind her and covered her eyes.

"Guess who?" the guy standing behind her said as she jumped in her seat.

"Tom Cruise." Carri replied, knowing full well who the hand covering her eyes belonged to.

"Nope." Rocky said with a grin, glancing briefly toward Kim, wondering what the former pink ranger was doing here.

"Brad Pitt?" Carri asked a hopeful tone in her voice.

"Carri!" Rocky exclaimed as he took his other arm and put it around her.

Carri laughed. "Can't a girl hope?"

"We all hope." Kim said, smiling over at Rocky and debating how she wanted to acknowledge the guy standing behind him.

Carri thought for a moment. It was no fun to simply guess. She was going to keep playing. "Wait, I know who it is." She said as she put her hand on his arm and moved her fingers upwards. "Hey Tommy. Good to see you."

"Excuse me?" Rocky questioned well aware by this point that his girlfriend was never going to simply answer him.

"You mean it's not Tommy?" she questioned, mock disappointment in her voice.

"I'm over here." Tommy said from behind the blue ranger. "Way to go. That was supposed to be our little secret." He continued, playing along with the joke.

"Oh." Carri said with a sigh. "Well I guess that leaves Rocky." She tried her hardest to sound sad.

"It took you long enough." Rocky grumbled as he took his hands off of her. He leaned down to her level and smiled at her, watching as she smiled back before giving her a kiss. "Hey." He said as she greeted him back. He took the seat beside of her and turned toward Tommy as he sat down as well. "And you Mr. Oliver. What do you think you're doing messing around with my girlfriend?"

"No comment." Tommy joked as he glanced over and made brief eye contact with Kim. He was trying hard to control himself. They were not together anymore. She broke up with him and now he was with Kat. He could not let his heart control him just because she came back for a visit. He quickly turned back toward Rocky and Carri and tried not to think about it.

Kim raised an eyebrow, not missing the way he turned away from her so fast. She was not sure what that meant. "Ah-hem." She said, trying to figure out where this was going from here.

"Oh, hi Kim." Tommy said, trying his best to remain as casual as possible.

"Excuse me!" she exclaimed with a smile. She was not sure if she should continue but she would find out quickly if they were ok with her here or if she was not welcome and should return home. "I am only the love of your life I deserve a better greeting than that." She said the smile still on her face.

Rocky thought for a moment, glancing briefly over toward Tommy. The red ranger looked like he was not sure how to react. Rocky knew they had not spoken since the letter. However, Kim was still a former ranger and their friend. Besides, Tommy moved on with Kat. He stood up and went to give Kim a hug. "Nice to see you again." He said, glancing over at Tommy and grinning. "Real nice." He added, trying to take a jab at Tommy for the one he and his girlfriend made toward him.

"Hey!" Tommy exclaimed, although he supposed it should not matter, she was his ex girlfriend.

"Well Tommy you know if you want a hug you can have one." Kim said jokingly as she glanced over toward the red ranger. It would be nice if he took her up on her offer. It would mean he did not hate her as much as she was afraid he did.

"I know." Tommy said as he stood and went to give an ex girlfriend a hug. It felt wrong seeing as how he was with Kat now, yet once her hands locked around his body it brought back a flood of memories that made him believe it was right.

Adam and Jason walked in just as Tommy let go of Kim and went back to his seat. Adam glanced toward the gold ranger and raised his eyebrow. Tommy looked quite receptive toward Kim seeing as how she broke his heart a few months ago. "Hey Kim." Adam greeted, watching as the former pink ranger jumped up excitedly and gave them both hugs.

"It's so good to see you guys." Kim said as she sat down and gestured for them to join her.

"So, Kim, I thought you were training hard for the Pan Globals." Tommy commented. It was hard enough that she did not have time to return any of his calls or letters after she broke up with him. He was not going to hold that against her though, not any more. Regardless of what he thought about her, he had moved on and was with Kat now. "What brings you out this way?"

"I wanted to visit with the guys again, see what was going on. Catch up with Kat, see how she's doing." Kim said with a smile. She really wanted to come out here and see how Tommy was doing. She felt guilty about the letter, guilty about ignoring him afterwards. Spring break was the first chance she had gotten at a vacation and she elected to rush up here and check on things. However, it seemed as though things were going ok. Plus she was not as hated as she thought she would be.

Kim smiled at the team and continued. "And go shopping." Kim added with a grin. "But since Aisha's gone I don't know who will take her place." Kim wore out the mall. Aisha was the only person she had met who could keep up with her.

Four pairs of eyes turned toward Carri, who grinned and stood, taking a bow. "Queen of the mall." She proclaimed. She did not know anything about Kim's shopping habits but she could not help but wonder if she could keep up with her. Kat enjoyed shopping but she still wore out before Carri did.

As Carri sat back down, Kat entered the Youth Center. She spotted her friends sitting at the table and immediately noticed the outsider. She walked over toward the former ranger and grinned. "Kim!" she exclaimed as Kim stood and Kat gave her a hug. "It's good to see you!"

"Good to see you too." Kim replied, smiling back at her. She had a million questions for Kat but those would have to wait.

"How long are you in town for?" Kat questioned. It would be nice to catch up with Kim some. It was going to be even better considering that she did not have to watch her and Tommy drooling all over each other.

"I haven't decided yet." Kim replied honestly, as she sat back down. She did not have a return ticket. She was going to wait and see how welcome she was in Angel Grove before she picked a return date. Plus her parents had not given her very much money to visit. "If I can find a cheap enough hotel I'll stay a couple of nights."

"Hotel?" Kat questioned as she grinned at her. "Don't be ridiculous, you can stay with us until you leave. I'm sure my parents won't mind."

"Are you sure?" Kim asked, watching as Kat nodded. She would love to stay but she did not want things to be awkward. Then again, it might be fun. "Ok. However, I have already paid for a room for one night. So I'll stay with you starting tomorrow."

"Tomorrow it is then." Kat replied as she turned around and grabbed a chair, sliding it over and scooting in between Tommy and Jason.

"Since you're visiting Kim, we need to plan things to do." Jason spoke quickly. It was great to have the girl he always thought of as his sister back in town.

Kim had to pull her focus away from Kat and Tommy. She did not miss the look they gave each other, or that Kat reached over and took his hand. She had been right in sending the letter. Tommy had wanted to move on with Kat. "Like what?" she asked as she turned her attention toward Jason.

"Why don't we go to the beach tomorrow?" Jason suggested. "We can gather Billy, have a picnic, and maybe play some volleyball." He and Tommy could set up the afternoon. It would be fun.

All the rangers quickly agreed except for one. "I have to work tomorrow." Rocky spoke up. He could see the disappointment among his friends and he continued. "But you guys go and have fun. I'm not working again until Saturday, Kim and I will have plenty of time to catch up."

"Right. We'll definitely hang out more than once so that we can all chat." Kim said with a grin as she looked over at Rocky. Apparently Rocky had been quite busy since she had been gone as he had his arm firmly around Carri and she looked very much at ease with him there. She had not known that Rocky was seriously dating the new yellow ranger until he came into the Youth Center that afternoon.

Rocky grinned back at her as Kim sat back in her seat. "You know this feels right." Kim said as she looked out over the rangers. "Being here in the Youth Center with you guys. There's only one thing missing. And since I have a social life now you can keep it."

"We had a social life." Tommy was quick to point out. He and Kim had more than simply a social life together but he would ignore that fact for the moment. "We went out almost every weekend."

"I suppose we did." Kim said with a smile as memories came flooding back to her. One in particular made her laugh. "Until Aisha got that stupid cat. It hated us, we had to sneak out."

"Don't blame me." Kat defended herself, meeting Kim's eyes and grinning. "Rita's the one you should be mad at, not PC."

"Yes but PC was a pain in the butt." Kim was teasing her replacement but on some level, it was true.

"Not PC, Rita." Kat continued to insist as she looked toward Tommy for help.

Tommy threw his hands up. He was not getting in the middle of this. There was no way he could win. Rocky laughed at his friend's predicament and decided to pitch in. "Tommy used to complain about that cat all the time. He did not like PC, Rita or not. Tommy just isn't a cat person."

"But he turned into one pretty quickly." Jason said, watching as Kat blushed and Tommy smiled.

Jason briefly looked over at Carri who smirked in response. This was the first reaction she had to this part of the conversation. She sighed as the others went back to reminiscing. This was all well before she came, she did not have anything useful to add and she was feeling left out. Mind made up, she stood at the next lull in conversation. "Guys I'm heading out."

"Why?" Kat questioned, glancing up at her cousin. It was not like her to abandon conversation.

"My parents are expecting a call from me in fifteen minutes. They've even got Josh with them so." Carri paused and shrugged before smiling at the others. It was total bullshit but she would rather go home and watch a ballgame or something. "I'll talk to you guys later."

Rocky grabbed her wrist before she could go. "I'll come by later." He promised. She smiled and nodded before leaning in and giving him a kiss. After saying quick goodbyes to everybody else, she was gone.

Jason watched Carri go and silently shook off all the questions he had before turning back toward the others. "So where were we?"

"Talking about the good old days." Adam said with a smile. Although a lot had changed since then, and some of it for the better.

"Right." Jason agreed with a nod and a smile. "These new getups are nice and all, but I do miss dinosaur days."

"That makes two of us." Tommy replied. Although his reasons had nothing to do with the powers and everything to do with the girl he was dating at the time.

"I don't know." Rocky said as he thought about it. "We're having a lot of fun now."

"You just like it now because if things hadn't changed you'd have a completely different relationship with your girlfriend." Tommy pointed out. Of course Rocky was not the only one whose relationship was influenced by the power.

"How do you get that?" Rocky questioned. He had not really thought about it that way before. He was just thinking about how he enjoyed the Zeo powers.

"Aisha wouldn't have left. Then Tanya never would have taken her place." Tommy started his story. "And if Tanya wasn't here to leave, Carri wouldn't be where she is now." He finished.

"I never thought of that." Rocky replied as he made a face. He wondered briefly if they would be as close as they were if she was not a ranger.

"I liked having my own special animal." Kim said, skipping forward from their days as dinosaurs and referencing their Ninjetti powers. "But then again, I can't really play the comparison game. I went off to be a famous gymnast and left Kat to do the dirty work." Although deep down, Kim really did miss the rangers.

"Yes and thank you for giving me this wonderful job." Kat replied, silently adding a thank you for dumping your boyfriend so I would have a chance. "And I liked having my own special animal too."

"It was my animal." Kim reminded her in a teasing fashion. "I only let you borrow it." The coin transfer had made it possible for Kat to utilize the Crane temporarily. However, to get her own Ninjetti animal spirit, Kat would have to go to Phaedos and see Dulcea.

"I never got an animal." Jason said with a frown. He did not know much about those days in ranger history. He knew they still utilized coins and had a separate set of powers but he had not researched the specifics.

"Enough talk about animals." Adam said as he grinned at his teammates. "People are going to start to think we're running a zoo."

The group of rangers laughed at Adam's comment. When the laughter died down a silence settled in before they switched to another topic and continued chatting for the rest of the afternoon.

* * *

The next day, Carri and Kat arrived at the beach, the last two of the group to get there. "Hey guys!" Carri called out as she spotted Tommy, Kim, Jason, Billy and Adam.

Kim grinned and gave her a little wave. "Hey!" she called back as Kat and Carri approached.

"Are we ready to go?" Kat asked as she walked over toward Tommy and put her arm in his.

Tommy looked down at his girlfriend and grinned. "I believe so." He replied. They had set up that morning in a cave just down the coast. Zordon had allowed them to teleport some things down there, and then they were going to regroup with the others and swim to the location. It was not a long swim but it would be good exercise.

Jason glanced over at Carri, who was walking up toward him and Kim. He noticed the duffle bag that was on her shoulder. "You know we're swimming right?"

Carri put her and on her hip and glared at him before rolling her eyes. "I'm going to give this to Rocky to hang on to. I don't know about you, but I'm not going home dripping wet."

Kim chuckled as Jason simply shook his head. "Whatever." Jason finally replied as the group started heading down the beach.

Their final destination was the tower where Rocky was working. That was going to be the spot they would start their swim to the cave. As they walked they fell into line, with Adam on the end, Billy next to him, Tommy squeezed between Kat and Kim and Jason and Carri on the other side of Kat, where the duo could crack jokes between each other and have the others look at them as though they were crazy.

For Tommy, being between the two girls was awkward. Even though he was with Kat, he could not help but steal glances toward Kim. He could not believe they had broken up. They were such the couple. What could she have found in someone else that would make her want to leave him?

Kat noticed Tommy's wondering eye and it made her jealous. Sure, they had broken up, but Tommy was still giving her attention. She put her arm around him, pulling him from his previous thoughts as he glanced down at her and smiled.

Finally, they reached Rocky's tower, and the blue ranger immediately came over to greet them. "Hey guys. Ready for your fun in the sun?"

"Ready as we'll ever be." Kim confirmed with a nod.

"Just don't drown out there." Rocky said, trying his hardest to remain completely serious. "I don't have time to babysit you with the other kids."

"Hey!" Carri exclaimed as she and Kim both hit Rocky. They stepped back and grinned at each other as Rocky held his hands up.

"Come on, don't gang up on me like this!" he exclaimed as he slid back. He glanced over toward the ranger boys and frowned. "What, no help from my friends?"

Jason snorted as they ignored him. He had learned with both girls not to step in unless he wanted a smack as well. Carri grinned and nodded in approval at the others silence as she took her bag off of her shoulder. "Anybody else want to add to this before I give it away?"

Kim reached into her hair and pulled out a scrunchie. "Here." She said as she put the hair accessory into the bag.

Adam reached into his pocket and sheepishly pulled out the emergency pager his parents gave him. "My mom will kill me if I get this wet." He said, dropping his item into the bag as well.

"Here you go." Carri said as she reached her hand out, extending the bag toward her boyfriend. "We'll be back by five-ish."

"Wait." Billy said as all eyes turned toward the former ranger. "I'm not sure it's a good idea to go swimming with our communicators on. A little water won't hurt but we could run the risk of shorting them out permanently." He had not thought about it until Adam handed over his pager. Seeing that made him wonder if swimming with their communicators was such a good idea.

"We'll just leave them with Rocky." Jason said with a shrug as he unclipped his from his wrist and went to toss it into the bag.

"No way." Rocky said, closing the bag up and yanking it back. "I'm not watching the communicators. We have had a problem with theft in the towers. It's too risky."

Tommy sighed. "So much for our afternoon." He said, shaking his head. He was really looking forward to it.

"Oh well." Kat said, although she found herself somewhat pleased. Tommy had his eye on Kim; she did not mind the two of them not spending time together. "Come on Tommy, we'll just go and."

"I'll stay and watch them." Carri quickly piped up, cutting Kat off. She really was not in the mood for an afternoon of reminiscing anyway. For once, she would not have anything to add to the conversation.

"We can't let you do that." Kim said as she made a face. She was looking forward to getting to know the yellow ranger. "You're supposed to come with us."

"Don't worry about it." Carri said waving her off. "You guys can all catch up and you're staying with us so we'll hang later." Hopefully when Carri could get to know her without the past being the center of the conversation.

"Ok." Adam said with a shrug as he and the others took their communicators of and handed them over. He felt bad about ditching her but she seemed pretty content to let them do it. Besides, Carri would not volunteer to stay behind if she did not mean it.

Carri and Rocky quickly said their goodbyes to the group and watched as they took off. When they were out of hearing range, Rocky turned toward his girlfriend. "That was nice of you."

"I know." Carri said, grinning saucily at him. "Now you're stuck with me all afternoon because I am going to lay out and tan."

"Great." Rocky teased, rolling his eyes before grinning at her and giving her a kiss.

As Rocky walked off, Carri pulled her towel out of her bag and tossed it onto the sand. Her mini television was still in her bag from baseball practice. She knew she could tan and relax for a few hours and then there was an Astros game on. After that, she was ready for the afternoon. Carri laid down on her stomach on her towel and closed her eyes, grateful for the opportunity to relax.

* * *

Fifteen minutes after leaving Rocky and Carri, the group of past and present rangers came to the secluded beach. The area was no more than thirty-five feet long and twenty-five feet deep, with the back of the beach bordered by a rocky outcrop that a small cave was in the center of.

As Tommy and Jason swam up to the shore, they walked up the beach and made a beeline for the cave, where they retrieved their stored blanket and picnic basket. As they came back down, everyone had made it ashore. The group of rangers worked together to lay the blanket out before they all sat around in a circle.

Jason sat the basket in the middle of the circle before he sat down. Tommy found a seat beside of him and Kim sat on the other side of Tommy. Kat, rather irritated that she did not have a place beside her boyfriend, took the seat beside Kim, then Adam set next to her and Billy completed the circle.

Kat pulled the basket from the middle and opened it up, peering inside. "There isn't as much food in here as last time."

"That's because we knew Rocky wasn't coming." Adam teased his best friend. The others laughed as Kat picked her choice of food out of the basket and passed it around.

A few minutes later, everyone had something to eat and the conversation started. "Kim I'm sorry I was unable to greet you yesterday. I was in the Power Chamber rewiring and."

"Don't tell me." Kim stopped Billy short as she grinned at him. "I wouldn't understand."

"You never could understand my work." Billy said, smiling over at the pink ranger. It was not a knock on her intelligence; none of the rangers understood his work. It was well above their level of comprehension.

"That's because I wasn't the one who graduated early." Kim pointed out. "I was just one of the dumb ones." She picked on herself with a smile.

"You were." Jason said as Kim reached over and whacked him. "What? We did have to explain everything to you."

"The only person to ever understand Billy's techno speak was Trini." Tommy spoke up in Kim's defense. He rarely understood Billy when the former ranger really got into something.

"I miss Trini." Billy said with a sigh. She was his friend and a fellow ranger. She understood him, and Billy always had a tiny crush on her. "With her around, there was never a need to repeat myself. She acted as my translator." Billy said, choosing to focus on one aspect of his and Trini's relationship.

"Remind me later this week and I'll get you Trini's address. That way you can write her." Jason said as he glanced over toward Billy. He had seen Trini a few months ago. She and Zack were still working hard doing a second round with the Peace Conferences. Jason had been more than ready to return home.

"Those were fun times." Kim said as she thought back to her first days as a ranger. "The five originals." Things changed once her friends left. Of course, not all the changes were for the worse. She got along with the new rangers well. "Although after you guys left I had Aisha, who could keep up with me at the mall. And then there's Rocky, who compared to other reds actually kept my secrets."

"Hey!" Jason exclaimed as he looked over at the original pink ranger. "When have I ever blabbed your secrets?"

Kim crossed her arms over her chest and gave Jason a look. "How about the time I told you Bulk and Skull needed a major attitude adjustment, and then out of the blue they chased me around with flowers for weeks. What about the time I told you that I had never had a power hungry boyfriend. Tommy took that as an insult. Or how about."

"Alright, I get it." Jason said as he threw his arms up. "So maybe I have shared a few things but not everything." He said, making brief eye contact with her and grinning. She had told him plenty of secrets that he had not shared.

The other rangers chuckled, even Kat who had been sitting aside the entire time listening. She couldn't have anything to do with this conversation; it was all about events that took place well before she showed up. She was jealous of Kim and wished she stayed on the beach with Carri. At least she would have someone to talk to, someone else who was not here when Kim was around.

Kim put her arm around Tommy and reached beside him so she could grab Jason too. "This is the best time I've had in a long time. Being back home, with you guys…" Kim let her voice trail off. She missed Angel Grove; she missed her friends, Tommy, being a ranger. She was thrilled to be training for the Pan Globals but she had given up so much to do it.

"Things aren't the same without having someone as spirited as you." Jason said, pausing for a moment and chuckling to himself. "Although we do have rangers that compare."

"Really?" Kim questioned with a grin. "Who could compare to me?" Although she was pretty sure they were referring to Carri, since she knew Kat well enough to know that they were two different people.

The guys looked at each other and grinned. "Carri has a bit of your spirit." Tommy told her. "Attitude wise she reminds me a little of you."

"Well then, it looks like Carri and I should spend more time together." Kim replied. Getting to know the new yellow ranger was definitely on her list. "Maybe we'll go somewhere when we get back. Like shopping!"

Jason groaned. If Kim went shopping with Carri, he would never see either of them again. Billy glanced over toward Jason and smiled. Carri and Kim did have things in common but they were definitely not the same. "Carri may have your spirit but she certainly is no Kim. You're unique."

"I know." Kim agreed with him.

Tommy started laughing and Adam looked curiously at their leader. "What?"

"I was just thinking of all the things Kim has done that make her… unique." Tommy said, glancing toward the former pink ranger who raised an eyebrow at him.

"Like?" Adam prompted.

Tommy simply shrugged, and without warning, Kim got on her knees and leaned over Tommy, grabbing his arm. "Tell me what you're thinking or I'll twist it." Tommy grinned and shook his head no, then pushed him backwards and onto the ground. Tommy's legs went flying up and Kim landed on top of him, both members of the duo laughing hysterically.

Kat sighed as they both lay on the floor laughing. She wished it was her having that good of a time with Tommy, her boyfriend. However, she knew she only had to deal with Kim for a few days and then the former ranger was gone. She'd be locked up in Florida practicing gymnastics, hopefully for a long, long time.

* * *

Rocky jogged down the beach and walked up behind Carri, who was lying on her back watching the baseball game. He glanced down at the score and frowned. "Still nothing – nothing?" he asked as his girlfriend nodded. "And there in the sixth?"

"Stupid pitcher's duel." Carri grumbled. She liked to see pitchers do well when her pitcher was the only one doing the shut out. She wanted to see her team score. "Don't worry though. The Padres are going down worse than your Dodgers did.

"You only took two." Rocky replied defensively. That weekend their two teams had met for the first time that season. The Astros' won two of the games and Carri had been continuously pointing that out since the Sunday night. Carri simply looked up and grinned saucily at him and Rocky huffed and headed back toward his tower. Before he got too far, their communicators went off.

"Damn." Carri muttered as she stood. She was enjoying her day in the sun. "Can you keep an eye on this stuff while I see what's going on?"

"You're not going by yourself. Who knows what Mondo has sent down for us." Rocky quickly stopped her.

"And just who do you think is going to help? Everyone else took off without their communicators." Carri was quick to point out.

"Me." Rocky said, holding a hand up before she could protest. "Give me one second and I'll get someone to cover for me."

Carri watched as Rocky tore off. A few seconds later, he returned and they moved swiftly to find a secure location. "Go ahead." Rocky spoke into his communicator.

"There is a monster in the city and it's terrorizing the citizens. You must teleport immediately." Alpha informed the two rangers that answered his page.

"We're on it." Rocky replied as he glanced at their surroundings once more. "It's moprhin time!"

"Zeo ranger two, yellow!"

"Zeo ranger three, blue!"

* * *

Once lunch was finished, everyone got up to play volleyball. Tommy and Jason brought a ball and they folded up their blanket and used it as the middle of the court. Kat found herself on Tommy's team, along with Jason. She was hoping she could get Tommy to forget about Kim. However, the one player on the court Tommy was focusing on was the former ranger.

"This one is coming to you!" Tommy called out as he served the ball.

Kim moved into position. "I got it!" she called out as she bumped it, watching as Billy set it and Adam spiked it back. As it went over the net both Jason and Tommy dove for it and missed. Fortunately, Kat saved it and Tommy jumped up and spiked it back, right in Kim's face.

Kim missed the ball and immediately stuck her tongue out toward Tommy. "No fair, I wasn't ready."

Tommy chuckled, glancing briefly at his waterproof watch, turning to walk off their court before Jason could toss him the ball. "Hey bro, it's your serve. Where are you going?"

"I've got to meet David in an hour. I told you I couldn't stay all afternoon." Tommy said as he waved goodbye to his friends. "I'll see you guys later." With that, Tommy took off for the water.

* * *

"We need help!" Carri yelled as she and Rocky regrouped after getting tossed aside by the monster. Today was not the day for the others not to have their communicators.

"You need more than help!" The monster bellowed. "You will never be able to defeat me!" With those words he suddenly grew to city wrecking size.

"Great." Rocky said as they watched him tower over them. "Where's Pyramidas when you need it?"

"On the beach having fun." Carri grumbled, not taking her eyes off their giant enemy. "I think now's a good time to call for our zords."

Rocky quickly agreed with her. "We need Super Zeo Zord power now!" he yelled as the blue and yellow super zeo zords came flying toward them.

The two rangers quickly jumped into their zords and started a difficult fight against the monster. He was flinging them around easily. They had gotten a few good blows in on him, but without a little help from their friends, they were going to be toast.

* * *

Tommy made it ashore and noticed the bag with the communicators, opened and unattended. He could not believe that Carri could be so irresponsible. Anybody could just waltz over and grab their communicators.

He shook his head angrily as he grabbed his out and zipped the bag up. Before he could go looking for her, his communicator went off. Tommy quickly maneuvered to a location where he could answer it. "Go ahead."

"Rocky and Carri are in the park fighting a monster and are in great need of your assistance." Alpha replied, relieved that one of the other rangers finally answered him.

"Alright Alpha, I'm on it. It's morphin time!" Tommy yelled as he thrust his hands down by his side. "Zeo ranger five, red!"

* * *

Tommy called for the Red Battlezord the moment he was on the scene. "Sorry I'm late." He apologized from his spot in the zord's cockpit.

"Better late than never." Rocky replied. It was about time they got some help.

"Why haven't you guys called for the megazord yet?" Tommy questioned his teammates.

"Don't bother rangers." The monster taunted. "I will destroy you all before you can get your zords together."

Carri huffed at the monsters response and said a few choice words before responding to Tommy. "We needed one more zord. Alpha said he could only pilot two from the Power Chamber."

"Right. Hang on." Tommy said. He quickly called for his Super Zeo Zord and jumped into it, as it got closer. With Alpha's help, they retrieved the other two zords and brought them all together to form the Megazord. "You guys got it?"

"We're totally kicking his ass now." Carri said as she and Rocky positioned themselves to pilot the megazord alone.

Tommy nodded and jumped from the megazord. He returned to his battlezord, which had been taking a beating from the monster while it was vacant. Before the monster could knock the zord down, Tommy issued the monster a serious blow. The monster stumbled back in shock.

The Super Zeo Megazord along with the Red Battlezord worked to take the monster down. After each zord took a slight beating, they decided they had to regroup and combine their forces into one great attack. Both zords came at the monster, hitting him as hard as they could, causing him to fall back and hit the ground, disappearing in a small explosion.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Carri was sitting with Rocky on her beach towel. Rocky was officially off duty and he was enjoying the quality time with his girlfriend. "Why don't you come home with me?"

"The guys would have my head if I ran off with their stuff." Carri said as she pointed over toward the bag.

"They'll be able to find you." Rocky said with a smile as he put his arm around her and gave her a kiss.

Carri eagerly returned the kiss as Rocky's hands touched her bare midsection. She reached over and grabbed his waist, pulling him close to her, while trying to ignore the beach related fantasies that popped into her mind. She did not want to get caught naked with Rocky and she was quite careful when they were in the house alone together. However, if he kept moving his hands around she was going to be inclined to take him right there.

All those thoughts came to a screeching halt when someone called out to them. "Look at you guys!" Kim said as she walked up the beach. "Sitting here, setting a bad example for all of us."

Carri and Rocky stopped what they were doing, looking up to see their friends arriving. Rocky sighed. Not that it was going to go much further in public, but still. "And I thought Mondo had bad timing." He complained.

"Did we interrupt?" Kim asked with a grin. "Darn." She said, snapping her fingers and making her best sympathy face.

Rocky stood up and helped Carri up as well. "I know you would have done everything to avoid getting here now if you knew we were here." He said.

Kim grinned at him. "Exactly." She replied. She glanced briefly toward Carri, who did not seem too phased by it all. It was quite a contrast from her cousin, who seemed to be quite embarrassed by walking up on them like that.

Jason reached into the bag and pulled out his communicator. "I hate to run, but I have somewhere to be tonight."

Carri ginned and raised an eyebrow. "Someone's got a hot date tonight." She teased.

Jason simply shrugged and turned to jog off. "Jason Scott, you can't leave and not tell me who she is." Kim protested. She had not known that Jason was seeing anyone.

Jason turned briefly to wave. "Bye." He called out as he continued on.

"Her name is Emily and she works for Ernie as a waitress." Carri called out, loud enough to make sure Jason heard.

"Traitor!" Jason yelled from a distance. He didn't stop to tease her any more though. He was not about to be late meeting Emily. This was their first date since Death hurt her in his attack. He was looking forward to helping her put things back to normal.

Kim and Carri simply ignored him as Kim turned toward the yellow ranger. "So, I've heard a lot about you, although considering the sources I don't know if it's true, and I was thinking maybe after we get changed us girls should hit the mall to shop and talk."

"Please. Just say mall and I'm there." Carri replied with a grin. Kim nodded in approval as Carri reached down and picked up her bag, handing the others their communicator.

"I'm off to the Power Chamber. I will talk to you all later." Billy said before teleporting away.

"I'm taking off too." Adam said. "Kim, your bags are all in Kat's car now." Adam spoke before he waved and took off.

"I guess we should get out of here too." Kim said as their party was quickly dwindling down. They needed to get changed if they wanted to go shopping.

"Let me collect my stuff." Carri said as she reached down to grab the few things that fell out of her bag. Seconds later, she was ready to go. Rocky put an arm around her and pulled her close, and then the four remaining teens headed for the parking lot.

* * *

It was two in the morning and Carri and Kim had long since returned from shopping. They were both lying on their stomachs on the floor, still in their clothes, going through a bag of assorted Hershey's chocolates while watching TV. They were running on a sugar high, while Kat was sitting beside them half asleep.

"Did you see the look on the cashier's face when I handed her the purchases?" Kim questioned, revisiting their trip to the mall. Kim had a blast with Carri. Both girls were still going strong when the mall closed and they were practically thrown out. They would totally have to go again sometime.

"That was classic." Carri replied with a grin. "Then when she rang them up." Carri paused and giggled.

"And she asked if I was serious about buying it all!" Kim exclaimed as both girls laughed. They came home with way too many purchases but it was worth it.

"You can't forget about those people in Claire's." Carri chimed in, declining to elaborate on that point. "And that couple." She turned to Kim as both girls grinned.

"What about that older lady." Kim said with a laugh.

"What did she say?" Carri questioned, trying hard not to laugh alongside her friend. "Something like, young girls like you shouldn't be out this late at night. What if someone tried to grab you? You'd be completely defenseless." She finished, trying her best to imitate the woman.

"Sure we would." That, for Kim, had been their most interesting mall encounter. "We can hold our own against the forces of evil trying to destroy the world but we couldn't handle teenage punks. Whatever." She said with a roll of her eyes.

Kat sighed. It was appearing as though even her own cousin preferred to have Kim around over her. That was the perfect end to her perfect day. As Kim continued to blab, Kat decided she had enough. "Would both of you please quiet down. How's a girl supposed to get any rest around here?"

Carri declined to point out that she could simply retire to her room. Instead, she shoved the bag of Hershey's toward her. "Have a few. In a few minutes you won't be sleepy."

"I can't." Kat said as she tossed the bag back. "I dance, remember?"

Kim nodded in understanding. "My coach would kill me if he saw me eating like this."

"Mine too." Carri agreed. Hershey's did not exactly help her throw a better curveball. Before she could say anything else, there was a knock at their front door. Carri jumped up and grinned. "There are only four guys I know crazy enough to come over at two in the morning." She said as Kim laughed and jumped up to join her.

Carri swung the door open to find that their visitors were not what they expected. "Cogs!" Carri exclaimed in surprised. "Can you hold them off a minute?"

Kim nodded. She wanted ranger action, here it was. "Go morph."

Carri moved back to stand beside her cousin. "It's morphin time!" she called out. Much to her surprise, nothing happened. Carri turned to Kat who shrugged, and she moved to try again. Nothing happened with their second attempt to morph either. Abandoning trying to morph, Carri headed over toward Kim. "Something's wrong. We need to get the Cogs out of the house."

Kim agreed and she worked alongside Kat and Carri to try to force the Cogs back through the front door. Suddenly two dozen big brown birds appeared and started attacking the girls. One of them grabbed Kat from behind and because she was too tired to fight it, it took her and teleported her away. Then they rushed for Kim and Carri, pushing the Cogs out of the way.

"Tengas!" Kim exclaimed in surprise. "I thought they were long gone."

"Who?" Carri asked as she and Kim headed toward the front door and saw all their foes coming toward them.

"No time to explain." Kim replied as she contemplated their odds. "But I do know we're outnumbered. Heavily."

Carri tried to teleport them out of there but with no luck. After a quick, unanswered page, Carri sighed. This was not something she would normally advocate but she did not think she had a choice. "Run!" she exclaimed as she took off, Kim hot on her heels.

"Where to?" Kim questioned. Running blindly was not going to help them either.

"Jase's." Carri said simply. "He's the closest." She added.

The two girls ran through streets and cut across lawns, hoping to lose their enemies in the process. They ran through three or four backyards and down the street a few yards before hanging a left onto another street and heading for the third house on the right. For the moment, it appeared as though they lost the Cogs and Tengas.

Carri ran and knocked on the door. To her surprise, Jason's younger sister immediately answered it. "Where's your brother?" she asked as she peered in and saw several eleven-year-old girls playing with makeup.

"Jason said no girls can bother him." Julie Scott replied as she prepared to slam the door in their faces.

"Wait." Carri said as she stuck her shoulder out and stopped the door from closing. "This is an emergency."

Julie opened the door and pointed up the stairs. "Second door on the left. However, he is asleep. And my brother knows karate so when he kills you both you can't say I didn't warn you." She said as she backed up and let them in.

Kim rolled her eyes as they ran up the stairs. "I hope I wasn't that annoying at her age."

Carri arrived at the door first and wasted no time banging on it. An angry gold ranger yelled at them. "Go away! I am trying to sleep! Didn't I tell you if you bothered me I'd kill you?"

Carri simply rolled her eyes and opened the door, barging in with Kim right behind her. Jason was on his side, his back facing away from them. Kim shut the door once they were safely in his room. "Jason this is important."

"Get ou" Jason stopped short as he turned around and saw who was standing there. "What are you doing?"

"Our powers aren't working and communications are down." Carri quickly started to explain the situation.

"And to make matters worse, the Tengas showed up tonight and snatched Kat." Kim finished summing up what had happened so far.

Jason glanced at both of him. From what he knew, Tengas worked for Zedd and Rita. This could not be good. "Maybe my powers will work since they don't come from the Zeo Crystal." He said as he stood. "Gold ranger power!"

Jason held his hand up in the air but nothing happened. "We need to get the others." Jason said as he threw on his jeans from the floor and went looking for a t-shirt.

"I'll go wake Rocky." Carri spoke quickly.

Jason nodded as he put his shoes on. "I'll get Tommy."

"And I'll grab Adam." Kim finished, just as the girls downstairs started screaming.

Jason looked briefly at Kim and Carri before bolting out the door, the girls following him. As he hit the bottom of the stirs, he saw Cogs and Tengas harassing his sister and her friends. The three teens battled the small army, kicking them out of the house and way from Julie and her guests before running outside and splitting up.

"See, I told you he knew karate." Julie said as she tried to imitate Jason's sidekick but ended up falling flat on her butt.

Her friends were all standing at the door googily eyed, not paying her a bit of attention. "He's dreamy." Sarah said.

"Yeah and he has a cute butt too." Christine added as the girls giggled and shut the door, trying not to worry about what was going on with the outside world.

* * *

Rocky's younger brother Matt was sitting on the couch watching movies when he heard a knock at the door. He went to answer it and was quite surprised to find his brother's girlfriend standing there. "I don't think you're welcome here at two in the morning." He said making a face.

Carri thought quickly about the best response. Since the truth was out of the question, she went with something vague. "Duh." She said, rolling her eyes. "This is life or death."

"Fine." Matt replied, moving out of the way. He honestly could care less.

Carri smiled at him as she ran through the house, up the stairs, and burst into Rocky's room. She found her boyfriend sound asleep, barely under his messy pile of sheets. She walked over to him and shook his shoulder. "Wake up." She whispered.

"Huh?" Rocky questioned, his eyes opening and Carri's blurry image coming into focus. "What are you doing here?" he whispered in a panic. If his mom caught her here, she'd flip. She would accuse them of doing things they should not be doing. And while that may be true, he certainly did not intend to have his mother think that way.

"This isn't a social call." Carri snapped, wondering just what it was he assumed she wanted. She was not going to show up randomly in the middle of the night, risking getting caught and giving her aunt and uncle a reason to want to ship her back to New York. "We have problems. Everything is down and Kat's been captured by this big brown birds called…" Carri paused, unable to remember their names.

"Tengas!" Rocky spoke a little too loudly as Carri nodded her head. He rolled over and fell out of his tangled mess of sheets, looking in his pile of clothes until he found something to put on. As he finished getting dressed, he grabbed her hand. "Let's go." He said as he led her quietly through the house and out the front door toward his car.

* * *

Rocky, with Carri in the passenger's seat and Adam and Kim in the back, pulled into the Youth Center parking lot with Jason and Tommy right behind them. The rangers piled out of the cars as the boys cut their engines off and they all gathered around to talk.

"Now, tell me again why you ran?" Rocky questioned as he looked at both of the girls.

"The Hershey's." Kim grumbled. She turned toward Carri and both girls snickered before Carri offered up a serious answer.

"They were right on our tail at both mine and Jase's house. We didn't have much of a choice." Carri quickly explained.

Adam looked around at the others. "So then what do we do now?"

"As much as I hate to be criminals, I think we should break into the Youth Center, hide out there until morning. There's not much we can do in the dark." Tommy said. Morning was only a few hours away and he thought their options were better in the daylight.

"I don't think Ernie will mind." Rocky said as he looked at the others, all except one nodding in agreement.

"Why, because he likes us so much?" Kim questioned. She knew they were his favorites but this was still breaking and entering.

"Because he knows." Jason replied as he glanced over toward Kim who held a shocked expression. "Apparently he's known since the beginning."

Kim could not believe Ernie knew and this was the first time she was hearing about it. She supposed they could just pass this off as a ranger emergency. "In that case let's do this." She said as they quickly moved toward the Youth Center's doors.

* * *

The next morning Ernie came in prepared to go through his typical routine, getting paperwork done then moving to get the place ready to open. He was surprised to enter and find six sleeping teenagers on the mats.

"What are you guys doing here?" He questioned loudly.

The rangers, who for the most part did not sleep well, woke at the sound of Ernie's voice. "Ranger emergency." Carri grumbled. Despite everything that had been going on, she still did not like getting woken up in the morning.

"We lost our powers and our communications." Tommy's voice trailed off as he stood and looked at Ernie. "Our homes had been compromised. We needed a safe place to hide until the sun came up and we could figure something out."

Ernie nodded. He did not like the fact that they broke in, but if they had no other option, he would forgive them. Besides, they were the power rangers. He would do whatever was necessary to help them. "Can I make you kids breakfast?"

Kim smiled at the Youth Center's owner. "Thank you for the offer but we really need to get moving."

"Fate of the world at stake and all." Carri chimed in as she stood and stretched.

"Come on guys." Tommy said as he led them toward the door. "Thank you Ernie." He said as he walked out, the other five following his lead with thank you of their own.

"Now what?" Adam questioned once they were outside of the building.

"We need to get to the Power Chamber." Jason pointed out. They had to figure out if they could get in, contact Zordon. "The only way is on foot."

Rocky nodded in agreement. "We can drive out part of the way." They could get near the desert before they had to park their cars and walk the rest of the way.

"Right." Tommy quickly agreed with the plan. "Let's split up and head out." He spoke quickly. With those words, the rangers jumped into the two available cars and took off.

* * *

As they left the city and were driving toward the desert, Rocky could not help but notice how unusually quiet his girlfriend was. "Are you ok?" he asked as he glanced over toward her. He didn't think she was hurt, but then again they had been fighting tengas the night before and she wasn't able to morph.

"Fine." Carri said simply as she leaned back in her seat and looked over at Rocky. She caught the look of disbelief on his face and she sighed before continuing. "I'm just worried about Kat."

"Don't worry, we'll find her." Rocky promised as he reached over and grabbed her hand, giving it a quick squeeze before returning his hand to the steering wheel.

It was not quite as comforting as Rocky had hoped. Carri was still clueless as to what exactly happened last night, not to mention they pretty much hit a dead end where Kat was concerned before they were able to get started. Although she could not do anything about Kat, she could at least get clued in as to what was going on. "What exactly were those birds?"

Adam scooted forward so that he was in between the driver's and passenger's seats. "I've got this one." He said as he turned to Carri. "Those birds, the Tengas, were a late wedding gift to Rita and Zedd from Rita's brother, Rito. They're basically their version of Cogs."

"Ok." Carri said as she thought about it for a moment. She was aware of Rita, she had fought against her evil green ranger a few months ago in an alternate universe. She knew nothing of Zedd, and had no clue about the two of them together. "So with Rita and Zedd, what are we up against?"

"Rita and Zedd have different methods of making monsters out of inanimate objects. Basically they can zap whatever they want into a monster." Adam quickly explained. "Then there's Finster, who works for the duo and can make monsters out of clay. Other than the Tengas, the only things to worry about are Goldar and Rito."

"If you think we even have to worry about them." Rocky joked. Although both had proven to be worthy adversaries, Rocky did not see either of them besting the power rangers anytime soon.

Carri nodded, although she was not sure if Goldar was a joke. She remembered him from the alternate universe and he had been tough. However, that was there and this is here, and she had never faced the Goldar that exists in her own reality.

Eventually the rangers reached their final destination, and they got out of their cars and headed toward the Power Chamber. The walk through the desert was long and tiring, and when they got to the spot that the Power Chamber should be, there was nothing there.

The teens could not believe their eyes. The Power Chamber could not simply disappear. Carri, who refused to acknowledge it was gone, walked up to where the building should be. Much to her surprise, she smacked into something. She held her hand out and she could feel the wall, feel the shapes that are etched into the exterior of the Power Chamber. She smiled to herself as she started tracing her fingers over one of the shapes.

"What's she doing?" Jason questioned as he watched her. Carri was not one to lose it, but it seemed as though the stress of the situation had become too much.

"I'll go talk to her." Rocky said as he jogged over toward her. "Hey babe"

"You've got to see this." Carri said excitedly, cutting him off. She grabbed his hand, thrust it toward the wall, and began showing him what she discovered.

Rocky felt the wall and could not help but let out a sigh of relief that Carri had not gone crazy. "Hey guys you've got to come see this." He called out toward the other rangers.

Everyone headed toward them and it was not long before the rest of them had felt what Carri and Rocky felt. "Maybe we can feel our way to the back door." Jason suggested. Obviously the building was still here. It was worth a try.

Jason worked his way along the exterior of the building until he came to the back door. He felt around until he came to the access panel. As he went to try to get in, the panel shocked him hard enough to send him flying backwards and landing in the sand with a soft thud.

"Are you ok?" Kim asked as the others rushed over toward him.

Jason shook his head as Tommy helped pull him to his feet. "I guess that's someone's way of saying we're not welcome." He joked.

"So now what?" Carri questioned as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I don't know." Rocky replied as he stepped behind her and put his arms around her. "But I wish I did."

"We'll figure something out." Tommy added as he glanced over at Kim, who was biting her lower lip and had a distressed look on her face. Out of habit, he reached out and touched her arm for comfort. He did not think about the gesture until it was too late, but she seemed to relax a bit and he smiled at her before letting his arm drop.

"I'm scared." Kim admitted as she sniffled. "We've lost our powers before, but Zordon and Alpha have always been there to guide us, point us in the right direction." They have never been powerless with no mentor to turn too and the more Kim thought about it, the more she worried about it.

Without thinking, Tommy reached over and drew Kim into a hug, embracing her like he used to when they were together. Kim did not protest, simply laid her head on his shoulder for silent support. The others barely noticed the affectionate moment between the two ex's. Carri and Rocky were having their own comforting moment while Adam and Jason were busy trying to figure out what the next step should be.

As if the situation weren't bad enough, both Cogs and Tengas appeared, ready to attack whatever moved. The boys immediately jumped into fighting stance, ready to take on whatever Zedd and Mondo threw at them.

Everyone split up to fight, the boys battling on their own while the girls worked on fighting together. They were both upset and the boys knew they should not fight alone given their current state of mind.

The male rangers did not get to pay the females much attention, as they are all heavily outnumbered. They were all out of breath and feeling weaker, they needed their powers now more than ever. However, they all knew they were not going to get them any time soon, and they all knew they would have to stand out there and fight until the end.

Kim and Carri found themselves getting tossed around, both of them flying through the air and hitting the ground. Kim sighed as they stood. "I suppose the bright side is there aren't any trees for us to get thrown into."

Carri snorted as they stood back to back to fight the group of Cogs and Tengas that had quickly moved in to encircle them. Their enemies were starting to get the best of them, and just when they thought there was no hope, a white light flashed in front of them and a ranger appeared to take on their enemies.

"Another ranger?" Kim questioned with surprise as the Cogs and Tengas fell quickly.

Carri watched as the mysterious white ranger finished off their enemies. "Are you from Triforia?"

The ranger cocked their head and looked at Carri curiously. "Why would you think that?"

Carri shrugged. "That's where Trey is from." She replied. She did not have any experience with other rangers besides the Triforian. She thought it had been a safe assumption.

"My friends and I are from Aquitar." Delphine replied before heading off to assist the others.

Kim and Carri turned to watch the white ranger join the others, a group that included red, yellow, blue and black. "No pink?" Kim questioned with a grin. "Well I guess they're not true rangers."

Carri chuckled as the male rangers ran over toward them. "Are you guys alright?" Tommy asked as they approached, putting his hands on Kim's shoulders. He had seen the beating they took he was worried about them.

Kim smiled at him. She enjoyed his touch. It brought back memories. Memories she had to suppress because he had a new girlfriend. It was hard though, she did miss him. She tried to shake that off as she answered the question. "Nothing that a hot tub and a good massage won't cure."

The Alien Rangers finished fighting the last of the Cogs and Tengas before turning and heading toward the rangers of Earth. "Rangers you must return to Aquitar with us. We will explain everything there." Delphine said as she glanced over the team.

Tommy nodded. This was twice now they had come to their aide when they could not morph. They really did owe a lot to the Alien Rangers. "Whatever it takes." He said as he and the others prepared for the Alien Rangers to teleport them back.

* * *

Rita Repulsa arrived in her cave and glanced at her prisoner. "Katherine, how nice of you to visit, sorry I couldn't be here when you arrived, Zedd and I were busy celebrating our return."

Kat looked through the green bars of her tiny square cell. "Let me out of here!" she yelled as she glared at Rita.

"Now Kat, why would I do that?" Rita questioned with a laugh. "I've been waiting for this moment since you became the pink ranger."

"What are you planning on doing to me and my friends?" Kat questioned as she continued to glare at the witch.

"Not your friends, just you." Rita replied before starting to explain part of their plan. "I could have brought your friends here. But why? I just want them dead. It's you I want to torture. However, maybe I will let Tommy join you. What could be worse than watching your boyfriend die a slow, horrible death?" Rita paused when she noticed the expression on Kat's face. "I know you two finally hooked up. It sure took you long enough."

"Leave Tommy alone!" Kat yelled as she reached through the bars in a very unsuccessful attempt to grab Rita.

"Ha! You can't touch me!" Rita taunted as she watched the helpless pink ranger. "Now I have to leave, I have to get back to destroying the rangers. But don't worry, Rito will keep you company."

"Great." Kat said sarcastically as Rita disappeared and her brother appeared to take her place.

"Hiya Kat." Rito said as he approached the cell. "Long time no see."

Kat simply groaned in response, sitting down on the floor of her cell as Rito started blabbing.

* * *

Jason was quite uncomfortable with their sudden transport to a foreign planet and he could tell the girls felt the same way. The minute they landed, he looked at the rangers. "Who are you and what's going on here?"

"I believe your friends can answer part of that question." Delphine replied as she gestured toward the three original Zeo rangers.

"Guys, these are the Aquitarian Rangers." Adam said as he looked over toward Jason and the girls. "They came to help us when Master Vile turned time back, turning us into children."

"Meet Delphine, Aurico, Cestro, Tideus, and Corcus." Tommy said as he gestured to each individual ranger. As he did, the Alien Rangers powered down and revealed their identities to the others.

"It is nice to meet you." Tideus said as he glanced at the remaining rangers. "I am afraid we do not have much time. We must cut to the reason you are here."

"How did you know we were in trouble?" Tommy questioned.

"We were trying to get in touch with Zordon when we noticed the disturbance." Corcus replied.

Adam frowned. He assumed whatever they noticed had to do with their current predicament. "What kind of disturbance?"

"Our message to Zordon could not be received because something was blocking the signal." Cestro started the explanation. "After much digging, we discovered that Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa have set up some sort of force field that blanketed the Power Chamber and is not allowing anything in or out."

Aurico turned toward Jason. "That is why you were shocked when you attempted to enter the Power Chamber."

Carri nodded toward the rangers as the events over the last several hours were starting to make sense. "So then how do we get everything up and running again?" Carri questioned, deciding that this was the most important issue. "And what about Kat?" she added.

"Both the machine controlling the force field and Kat are in a cave in one of Rita's dark dimensions." Delphine quickly explained. "Once you get past security and destroy the machine you will have access to your powers. Rescuing Kat will not be difficult at that point."

"How do we do that?" Kim questioned as she looked at the white ranger curiously. "We won't have powers until we destroy the machine. It's going to be hard to get to that point without them."

Delphine watched as Tideus walked off. "We will be able to teleport you into the dark dimension." She said as Tideus returned with a box. "But not until you go on a quest for powers, a quest that is necessary for all true rangers to go on."

"We've been on power quests." Kim said as she looked at the three former Ninjetti's and thought about their quest for the Great Power.

"You will not be searching for new powers." Cestro explained. "Your quest will be to temporarily connect you with your Zeo powers."

Tommy thought for a moment. "I thought our Zeo powers were useless as long as that force field was up." He said, rather confused.

"They are." Delphine replied as she took the box from Tideus and opened it. The rangers peered into the box, and inside they saw six crystal necklaces. Five of the crystals had little strips in them. Each strip appeared to be getting its power from a device in the box as they shined a bright color in one of the ranger's colors. Inside the crystal it appeared as though there was smoke floating around that was the same color as the sliver, only lighter. In the sixth crystal, instead of a straight sliver it took the shape of the gold ranger's staff and was black.

"What are these?" Adam asked as the rangers looked on curiously.

"The little slivers you see inside the crystals are powerful energy strips, which only glow when in the presence of someone who has been on the quest. Each strip contains some energy from its respective Zeo shard. These will allow you to morph. You can only have power for a few minutes, but that should be enough time to get in and destroy the force field. As for Jason his crystal will give him enough power to call upon his staff. That was the only reason Jason couldn't morph, he needed the power from the Power Chamber to call on his staff." explained Delphine as she watched the rangers take in everything.

"Ok." Carri said after she thought she had sorted it all out. "So if we use these we can morph?"

"Yes. Even if you do not hold power from a Zeo shard, if you go on the quest you will be able to use these for a temporary use of the Zeo powers." Tideus said as he glanced specifically at Kim. She was the only one who was not currently a Zeo Ranger.

"So then I'll be able to morph with the crystal?" Kim asked, trying to clarify what the Aquitarian just told her.

"Yes." Corcus replied with a slight nod. "Afterwards, if given the zeonizers you will be able to use those without an official power transfer."

"Alright." Tommy said. He did not have to think about it, this was their only shot at powers. "Let's do this."

"Good luck rangers." Delphine said as she teleported them out. The quest was dangerous and only one thing would get them through it. She hoped that Zordon was right about his rangers; she hoped they would figure out the key to surviving the dangers that lay ahead.

* * *

"So we've been working for these two Earth goons and that's why we haven't been by for a visit." Rito finished the story he was working on telling Kat.

Kat could not help but slap her forehead in disgust. "Thank you. That just made my day." She said sarcastically.

"I know!" Rito exclaimed suddenly. "Guess what?" he asked with enthusiasm as Goldar teleported into the cave. "Hiya Goldie." He greeted.

Goldar growled as he looked over at Rito. "Zedd sent me to make sure that this time you were actually keeping her in her cell."

"Oh yeah. We are having a good old time." Rito said as he leaned back and grinned. "I was telling her my life story and other things dealing with me."

"Torturing the prisoners, eh?" Goldar questioned with a laugh. "Zedd will be pleased." He said before disappearing as quickly as he appeared.

"Torturing the prison… hey!" Rito exclaimed, catching onto Goldar's meaning after he was gone. "Humph." Rito said as he shook his head. "Well then, where did we leave off?"

"Why me?" Kat said with a sigh as she turned away from Rito to face the wall.

* * *

The rangers arrived at the edge of a desert. In one direction, there was the entrance to a forest, in the other it was sand as far as the eye could see. The rangers spent several minutes looking at the odd landscape, debating which way to go.

"So the forest?" Rocky questioned as he looked around. The forest seemed the more challenging of the two options. Plus there was less chance of walking miles only to find themselves passed out and dehydrated.

Kim looked around at the others, who appeared to be in agreement. "Forest it is then." She said as she led the way.

Adam was the last one of the rangers to enter the forest. The bright sun that had been shining around them moments ago did not seem to make it through the treetops. "This is getting pretty dark." He commented aloud.

"So I'm not the only one who noticed?" Carri questioned with a sigh. "You guys didn't happen to bring a flashlight with you did you?" She joked. When nobody answered, she let out a frustrated grunt then continued. "So maybe the question was stupid but you could have at least answered."

Still nobody said anything to her and she was starting to get a bit ticked. "Guys?" she snapped as she stopped and looked around. For the first time she realized she could not see anybody. "Hey guys!" she yelled, hoping to figure out where the others went and how she got so lost.

"Carri!" she could hear Jason yell from somewhere to her left.

"Jason!" Carri yelled back, thankful that she had not lost her team. "Where are you? I can't see a thing."

"Me neither!" Kim yelled back from somewhere to Jason's left.

From Kim's left and out of Carri's earshot, Tommy joined in the conversation. "Where is everybody?" This wasn't the way he wanted to start their quest off.

"Over here!" Rocky yelled. He was even further to the left far enough away that neither Jason nor Carri could hear him yell.

"I'm to your left!" Adam called out to the others, however only Rocky and Tommy heard him.

"We should stop and figure this out together!" Tommy yelled out to whoever could hear him.

"Stop." Jason called out in Carri's direction, figuring in the event she did not hear Tommy she would definitely hear him.

"Where is everybody?" Carri called back. As far as she knew, it was just her, Jason and Kim.

"I don't know." Jason said. He had to assume the others were there. "Tommy, any sight of Adam or Rocky?"

"They're here." Tommy yelled back toward the gold ranger.

Jason nodded to himself as he went back to Carri. "We're all accounted for."

"How come I can't hear Tommy?" Carri questioned, both grateful they were all there and confused by their situation.

"I don't know." Jason said honestly. He thought it had something to do with the acoustics of the place but he was not sure. "Carri, since you're farthest left, why not you try to work your way this way."

"Ok." Carri yelled back as she started to work her way in the direction that Jason's voice was coming from. So far, this quest was not her idea of a good time. It was dark and she was in the forest. She was not a forestry kind of girl. "I can't believe I'm walking through the forest with no clue where I'm going." She grumbled.

"What was that?" Jason called back.

Carri's head snapped up in his direction. She had not spoken all that loudly. "You can hear me?"

"You must be getting closer." Jason replied.

Carri did not reply, simply keep pushing on through the forest. When she was almost there a spider dropped in front of her and she shrieked. "Spider!" she exclaimed. Spiders were the one thing in the world that freaked her out.

"Well I've never known a harmless little spider to kill anyone!" Tommy yelled out, teasing the yellow ranger.

"Oh yeah?" Carri questioned challengingly. "Got any research to back that up Oliver?" After a few seconds of silence Carri continued. "Didn't think so."

"Let me guess, Carri ran into a spider?" Rocky questioned with a chuckle. He heard Tommy's comment and as far as he knew, his girlfriend was the only one on the team with a fear of spiders.

Tommy laughed. "What gave it away?"

"A spider is the only thing that could defeat her." Rocky joked. He had seen her turn the other direction for even the smallest arachnids.

"Too bad she wasn't here when Scorpina was. She would have pulverized her out of fear." Adam teased.

Carri could hear Tommy's laugh and had to imagine that the others were having a good time at her expense. She would get her revenge. She grinned to herself as something grabbed her and she jumped. "Don't do that!" she exclaimed as Jason grinned wickedly.

"Sorry." He apologized, although it was fun scaring her. Jason reached out and grabbed Carri's hand. "I think we need to stick together." He watched as she nodded in agreement. No way was he going to let her go and risk them all getting separated again. "Kim we're coming for you!"

Jason and Carri moved through the forest, not allowing themselves to get more than a few inches apart. Neither wanted to be stuck in the forest alone, again. Finally they reached Kim, and Jason came up behind her and grabbed her arm, causing her to shriek.

Carri rolled her eyes. "He did that to me too." She said as Jason grabbed Kim's hand.

"Good idea." Kim said as she looked down at her hand, now firmly grasped in Jason's. "I'm not losing you guys again."

Jason nodded as he and the girls were off. "Tommy we're coming your way!"

The trio headed through the forest hand in hand. Kim was the first to make out the silhouette of the red ranger. "Tommy!" she exclaimed excitedly. She watched as Tommy headed over toward them, and when they got close enough she dropped Jason's hand and gave him a hug.

Jason watched as the two embraced and he glanced over at Carri, who raised her eyebrow before looking back toward them. "Not to interrupt the moment." Jason finally spoke as the two looked toward him.

"Right." Tommy said as Kim stepped back and took Jason's hand, and he fell in step beside her, grabbing Kim's hand. "Rocky, you're next!"

"Ok." Rocky called back as they started to head toward them. He looked in the direction they should be arriving from. Eventually he could see the outlines of four figures coming toward him. He could definitely tell it was two males and two females holding hands. The male in the middle of the two girls was keeping an appropriate distance. However, the male on the end was sticking to one of the females like glue.

As they got closer, he realized that the two that were huddled closely together were Tommy and Kim. He was relieved that it was not his girlfriend that attached to someone else, but at the same time Kim broke up with Tommy and Tommy was supposed to be with Kat. As close as they appeared, one would think that was not the case.

Rocky walked over and grabbed Carri's hand once they were close enough. "Did you see anymore big, scary spiders?" he teased as she promptly elbowed him in response.

"And no, I haven't." Carri said with a smirk as she started to pull Jason and Rocky forward. "You're up Adam!"

Adam paced around until he could see the five figures making their way toward him. On one end he could see who he thought was Carri and Rocky, who had their hands wrapped around each other. On the other was a couple almost as close.

Adam shook his head. Were Tommy and Kim going to get back together? They couldn't. Tommy had Kat now, and besides, Kim dumped him for someone else. Still they looked awful close for a pair that was supposedly broken up.

"We ready to go?" Rocky questioned as they approached. Although they did not really have an idea which direction, they were going in next.

Kim gestured toward the beam of light pouring down the only path that did not have trees in the way. "Looks like we've got an opening." She said as she took her hand that was locked into Tommy's and pointed to what she saw.

"I could have sworn that wasn't there a minute ago." Adam said as he turned and saw their way out. He supposed it did not matter, any way out was good.

"Let's go." Jason said as he started the march of rangers toward the opening.

* * *

"Oh rats!" Rita whined as she peered through her telescope. "Those rangers are ruining everything!"

Lord Zedd walked up to her. The rangers' being a nuisance was not exactly news. "What are they doing this time?"

"Those Alien Rangers sent them on the quest." Rita griped as she looked over toward her husband.

"The quest!" Zedd exclaimed angrily as he shook his head. "We must stop them."

"But how?" Goldar questioned from the back. He wanted to destroy those rangers more than anyone. "We don't have everything up and running yet."

"Do we have any more of Mondo's crappy Cogs left?" Rita questioned. They had taken what was left of the Machine Empire and thrown it at the rangers. Mostly it was the Cog army but they had managed to find one fully functional monster. They were hoping they could get ready to attack while leaving the rangers to think that the Machine Empire was still in charge.

"The rangers destroyed the rest of them during the last battle." Goldar replied.

Zedd turned and glared at Goldar. There went that idea. "Send in the Tengas." He ordered before storming back to his throne.

* * *

The rangers made it through the opening, only to find themselves greeted by the enemy. "Tengas?" Carri questioned as she watched the brown birds bounce around. "Who invited them to our quest?"

"I don't know." Tommy replied as he shifted into fighting stance. "But let's split up and take them down."

They all split up and immediately started fighting the Tengas. The initial fight was going as well as could be expected, but then out of the blue a new group of new foes arose to face them. This opponent was one of the guardians of the path to the power, guardians that had killed anyone who had managed to survive the first part of their quest.

"Oh, ew, what are they!" Kim exclaimed as she pointed to the bulky monsters.

"We're here to keep you from reaching your goal." One of them hissed as it looked at her. "No one has ever made it past us."

Carri punched a Tenga before getting a good look at the new guys. "Well this is just peachy." She said, letting out a groan.

"Keep fighting!" Jason exclaimed from across the battlefield. Although he had no doubt that they would not give up.

The rangers tried to take on everyone at once. The Tengas were not too difficult to handle, each ranger was finding themselves faced with two or three of them. However, the new foe was ten times as powerful as any Tenga and even though there were only six of them, they were incredibly difficult to fight.

Everyone was getting thrown around by their new enemy. After kicking a few Tengas back, Carri found herself getting thrown up against a rock by one of the new guys.

Carri groaned and put a hand to her back as she sat up. Glancing to her side she shrieked and jumped up. "That's just gross!"

"What?" Jason called out to her.

"Skeletons. Full of creepy crawlers." Carri replied as she kicked an oncoming Tenga. She thought it was a safe assumption that they were what was left of those who had attempted this quest before them.

"Must have been those who tried this before us." Kim verbalized Carri's thoughts as she threw a Tenga aside. "What a way to go."

"Guys I think we should regroup." Rocky suggested. He had seen the beating that everyone was taking. They were not getting anywhere. "We need a plan before we end up like the others."

The rangers moved to gather together and found themselves quickly surrounded. They all stood in fighting stance trying to figure out what to do next. "We should stay here, let them come to us." Adam suggested. They obviously were not accomplishing anything fighting the way they were. "Maybe together we can pick them off."

"Good idea." Tommy replied. It was the best idea they had.

The others quickly agreed and they stared their enemy down with a new determination. "Alright morons, come and get us!" Jason yelled out.

The Tengas were the first to seize the opportunity. One came running toward Kim and Carri. "Bad idea bozo." Kim said as she and Carri moved forward to kick him, throwing him back into two other Tengas.

"You want to fight us?" Tommy questioned as two Tengas moved toward him and Jason. "It's your funeral." He replied as he and Jason each grabbed a Tenga by the arm and smacked them into each other.

"You think we're going to go easy on you?" Rocky asked as he and Adam stepped up. "What planet have you been on the past few months?" He questioned as he and Adam hit a Tenga in the beak, knocking it to its butt and sending it backwards.

This went on for a few minutes, each Tenga taking its turn at a beating. Finally, they regrouped and left. "You guys will never defeat the power rangers!" Kim yelled after them.

"Now it's your turn." Adam said as he turned and pointed to the creatures that lived there.

The rangers wasted no time using the same methods as before to fight them. After a long, difficult battle, they were brought down as well. Jason smiled as the last of them were gone. "Now, I believe we have a quest to finish."

"What are we waiting for?" Rocky asked as he turned and led the group off to face their next task.

* * *

Zedd sat in his throne, feeling rather impatient as the rangers defeated the Tengas. Rita glanced over him and cracked a smile. "Don't worry Zeddie, the rangers will never survive the quest."

Zedd let out a frustrated sound. He had seen them beat the odds before, his luck they would do it again now. "I won't be happy until they're dead."

"Soon they'll be gone." Rita replied with a smile. "And we'll be ready to take over the world."

* * *

The rangers found themselves coming up to a dead end. They were standing at the edge of a cliff, where in front of them two ropes stretched out that were no more than two feet apart. They appeared to have been at one point been part of a bridge, but the bridge had long since disintegrated by now.

"This can't be the end." Kim said as she sat down on a slab of marble that was situated near the ropes.

Tommy glanced over toward Kim, his eyes looking down toward the marble. The part that was sticking out looked like it had something on it. "Kim, can you hop up a second?" Tommy asked, watching, as Kim obliged. He bent down and glanced at the picture. "Look at this guys. Any clue what it means?"

Carri glanced over at Tommy's shoulder, taking a good look at it before giggling. Rocky looked at her oddly and raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"It looks kind of like something I've seen before." She replied with a grin.

"What?" Tommy questioned. If she knew what it was, she had to fill them in on the secret.

"My brother made me watch Indiana Jones with him. This is similar to the symbol they used to represent a leap of faith." She replied the grin still plastered on her face. She found it hysterical that her brother's movie might actually be relevant.

"Leap of faith in what?" Jason questioned as he raised an eyebrow.

"In the movie it was God but," Carri paused and shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know how it pertains to us."

"But this is a quest for powers." Rocky pointed out as he glanced down at the symbol. The more he looked at it, the more he remembered it from the movie as well. "Why would a leap of faith be necessary?"

"And what are we supposed to have faith in?" Kim chimed in with her concerns.

Carri walked out and looked over the edge of the cliff. "I don't know what they want us to have faith in." She said simply as she turned and glanced toward the others. "But I know we have faith in each other. That's good enough for me." She said as she held her hand out. "Somebody grab my hand, we'll see what happens." She trusted that the other rangers were not going to let her fall to her death if she went out to check on her invisible bridge theory.

Rocky reached out and grabbed her hand. He was not sure if this was a sane idea or not, but it was all they had. "If we all hold hands we'll be able to hang on to you if you fall." If Carri started to fall, it might be enough to pull him forward but it would not be nearly enough to pull all of them forward. "It's worth a shot."

Kim grabbed Tommy's hand before stepping up and grabbing Rocky's hand. "We can do this if we stick together."

Jason reached out and grabbed Tommy's hand and Adam stood behind Jason and finished the line. "If there's one thing I have faith in, that's the rangers." Jason said as he briefly locked eyes with Tommy and nodded.

"Here goes nothing." Carri said as she looked out to the air in front of her. She took a deep breath, squeezing Rocky's hand tightly and leaping out as she exhaled. To her relief, she did not go plummeting through the air she landed on something solid. "Ha! There is a bridge here!" she exclaimed triumphantly as she started slowly moving across and pulling the other rangers along.

As Kim started walking across the invisible bridge, she looked down at the raging water below. "Ok so this is higher than the balance beam." She said to herself.

"Are you afraid of heights?" Tommy teased. Kim had not been the ranger afraid of heights, and what they were doing now was pretty intimidating to all of them. However, he could not help but pick on her.

"Are you asking a future Pan Globals gymnast if she's afraid of heights?" Kim questioned, looking over toward Tommy and grinning. She watched as Tommy chuckled in response. "Of course I'm not afraid of heights."

"If you say so." Tommy replied as he and the other rangers continued pushing forward.

Finally Carri reached solid ground on the other side. "Made it." She said, letting out a sigh of relief.

Rocky reached the other side right behind her, and the others quickly followed him. As soon as they were clear of the bridge, they stopped holding hands and went to look around. Jason was the first to notice the big stone slab that appeared to be the entrance to something.

"Hey guys, check this out." He said, calling them all over to his location. The others stepped up behind him and saw the engravings in the middle of the slab. On the engravings sat five familiar symbols.

"This must be the place." Adam commented as he studied the door.

"You think we can push it open?" Kim asked, as she looked it over.

"Only one way to find out." Tommy said as he started to push. He was not getting it to budge, but he quickly had the three other male rangers helping him push.

Kim and Carri watched their efforts at first and when it was obvious they were not getting anywhere, the girls moved to join in. With all six rangers pushing on it, the door gave away, revealing the room on the inside. The rangers quickly moved in to check it out, and the door shut behind them.

The room was glowing in five colors. Carri was the first to take note of the center of it. "Look at this." She said as she walked over toward the center. There was a big ring in the center with a pole shooting out of the middle of it.

Kim came up behind her. "These colors look familiar?" she asked the question that she already knew the answer to. The ring had slabs of pink, yellow, blue, green and red, while the top of the pole was black.

With no better ideas, Kim walked over and put both of her hands on the pink slab, while Carri moved beside her and put both of her hands on the yellow one. "Hey guys, check this out." Kim called out.

Rocky was the first to get there and notice what the girls were doing. "If I put my hands here will it do something?"

Both Kim and Carri shrugged. "It's worth a try." Carri replied.

As Rocky put his hands on the blue slab, Kim turned toward the others who were still examining the room. "Guys!" she called out with a grin. "Jeeze you boys are slow." She teased.

"We're coming." Tommy replied, grinning at Kim as he and the other two rangers jogged over there. Upon seeing what they were doing, Tommy put his hands on the red slab while Adam put his hands on the green.

Adam looked skeptically at the others. "Is something supposed to happen?"

"Good question." Tommy replied as he noticed the top of the pole. "This slab is black." Tommy said as he turned back toward Jason. "Maybe if you put your hands up there it will do something."

"Why not." Jason replied as he moved in between the others and set his hands on the top of the pole.

The moment Jason got situated, a rumbling noise was heard. The walls around them started shaking. Suddenly, beams of light that were the same color as the slabs shot up through the rangers. The rangers felt a weird sensation around them, but before they could do anything about it, they disappeared.

* * *

"Look!" Tideus exclaimed as he pointed to the six beams of light that were teleporting in front of them.

"Welcome back." Aurico greeted as the six rangers materialized and recognized where they were.

"We did it!" Tommy exclaimed as the rangers let out celebratory noises and exchanged high fives. He had been worried for a while but they pulled together and made it. Now it was time to fight Zedd and save Kat.

"And in your journey, you learned the most important lesson any ranger could learn." Delphine said as she looked over the excited teens.

"Which is?" Adam questioned. They had done a lot together on their quest, but he was not sure what the lesson was.

"I think I've got it." Tommy said. The thought had crossed his mind when they were crossing the bridge. There had been a certain theme to their adventure. "When we tried to do things separately, we failed. The only way we were able to complete the tasks in front of us was to come together as a team. We are much more powerful together than we are as individuals."

"Very good Tommy." Delphine replied, giving him a slight nod of her head.

Cestro turned toward the ranger team. "Did you notice anything different at the end of your quest?"

The others looked around at each other. "Before we teleported, when the colors shot through us, there was a weird sensation." Carri said. She did not know how else to describe it and she was not completely sure that was what they were looking for.

"Me too." Kim added as the rest of the team chimed in.

"That sensation you felt was the power entering your body. Not just Zeo powers, but all power." Cestro started his explanation. "It has magnified the power that Zordon has seen in all of you. That power along with these crystals will allow you destroy the force field and regain control of the Zeo powers and the Power Chamber."

"This power is that what causes the crystals to glow?" Rocky asked as he glanced over at the Alien Rangers.

"Yes Rocky." Tideus replied.

Adam was thinking over everything they had told them. "Are we going to notice this power inside of us?" he questioned. He had to ask the question, it was the one concern that kept popping up in his mind.

"No but when you wear the crystal, you will notice the powers are there." Delphine replied. "These powers magnify your strength and inner self. You will never be consciously aware that they are there."

Tommy listened to Delphine's explanation. It seemed as though all the important questions had been answered. Now they had something else they needed to do. "Now that we're ready for Zedd, let's do this."

Aurico handed the rangers their crystal necklaces. "As soon as you put these on, you will morph. Then you will have a few minutes to get in and destroy the force field."

"Let's do this." Jason said. His teammates put their necklaces on and morphed, while Jason put on his and was ready to call for his power staff. "Gold ranger power!" He yelled morphing seconds before Cestro teleported them out.

* * *

They teleported into the dimension, not far from the entrance to the cave. Tommy motioned for them all to move forward. "Let's head in." he said as they moved quickly.

As they arrived in the cave, they saw Rito there guarding Kat. "That's it, you're finished!" Jason called out, grabbing Rito's attention.

"Rangers! Long time no see." Rito said as he glanced over at them. "Uh… I guess you get to fight Tengas now." He said as a group of Tengas along with Goldar materialized.

"Attack!" Goldar yelled as he pointed his sword toward the rangers.

The Tengas rushed the rangers and the battle began. The rangers felt as though they had newfound energy. It was good to be able to morph again and be able to fight in earnest. For Kim, it was her first morph in almost a year in a half and she was having the time of her life. "It feels great to be back." She said as she kicked a Tenga.

"We need to hurry." Rocky said as he looked over at his fellow rangers. "Our powers won't last much longer."

"Then we will destroy you." Goldar promised as he let out a growl.

"Not likely." Kim replied as she and Carri broke free of the Tenga attack. They scanned the area and found the device that was creating the force field.

"Let's destroy it." Carri said and Kim nodded in agreement as they reached for their blasters and ran over toward the device.

Before they got their shot off, their powers disappeared. "We've got you now." Rito said as he moved in front of the two female rangers.

"I don't think so." Carri said as she ducked his swinging hand and grabbed his sword. "Can I borrow this?" she asked. Her voice was sweet but her grin was anything but.

"I don't think so." Rito replied as he struggled with her to gain control of the weapon.

Kim came up and kicked Rito in the stomach, and he dropped his sword. As he stood, he saw the former pink ranger glaring at him. "Hey look, Kim's back." He said as Carri and Kim headed toward the force field device with his sword.

"And she's got your sword!" Goldar yelled at him. He hated having to put up with this idiot in battle.

"Oh. Right. Hehe." Rito said, looking over just as Carri moved to slice the device wide open. "Wait, no, don't… oh man, Ed's never going to let me hear the end of it this time." He said with a sigh as the device fell apart.

Goldar smacked his forehead. "Why did I get stuck with this moron?" he grumbled to himself.

Carri walked over to Kat's prison. "Call on your morphers." She ordered. There was no time to explain.

"Why?" Kat questioned.

"Just do it." Carri replied, holding her hand out and waiting for them.

Kat sighed, calling on her morphers and reluctantly handing them over. Carri turned and handed them to Kim, and then they went to rejoin the male rangers, who were gathering to morph while Jason held off Rita and Zedd's forces.

"It's morphin time!" Tommy called out. The rangers quickly put their zeonizers together, and seconds later, they were fully morphed and ready for battle. Tommy looked over toward Goldar and Rito. "We're going to make you sorry you messed with us."

"I've been waiting for this for a long time." Goldar said for a growl as he reached for his sword and ran toward the former white ranger. As he approached, Tommy called for his Zeo weapon and the duo engaged in battle.

Rocky called for his Zeo weapons and elected to go after Rito. "I still have a bone to pick with you." He said, recalling his days as the red ranger.

"Ok. Hold on." Rito said as he walked over and picked his sword up from the place Carri left it. He barely had a chance to look up as Rocky was right on top of him, beginning their battle.

The rest of the rangers were finding themselves surrounded by Tengas, who had become an easy target to take their frustrations out on. "This is for jumping us in front of the Power Chamber." Carri said as she kicked a Tenga back. She turned to another Tenga and punched him in the beak. "And this is for just being annoying."

"You ruined my vacation." Kim said as she pounded a pair of Tengas. "I don't appreciate that." She said as she tossed one of the Tengas back into another one.

Adam took two Tengas and knocked them into each other. "Can we not do anything without you getting in our way?"

"How about a little lesson." Jason said as he held his golden power staff in front of himself. "It's time for a gold rush!" he called out as he ran through a group of the birds, knocking them out. "That ought to teach you not to mess with us."

On the other side of the cave, Rito was taking quite a beating. Rocky gave him a hard, swift kick and he fell backwards. "Come on, let up a little, you're really killing me out here." Rito whined.

"That's the point." Rocky said as he kicked him in his head and Rito flipped backwards.

"I quit." Rito said as he stood up and dusted himself off. "I don't get paid enough to take this abuse. Besides, Ed is going to kill me and I don't want two beatings today." With that, Rito was gone.

Rocky smiled satisfactorily as he turned toward the others, just in time to see the others finish off the Tengas. Rocky went to join them and they moved into position behind Tommy, who was still battling Goldar.

"There is no mercy for you Tommy!" Goldar said as he swung his sword at the red ranger. "When I get done with you, you will regret ever leaving Rita's side."

"The only thing I have ever regretted," Tommy started as he stopped Goldar's attack, "was working for Rita." With that, he kicked Goldar in his midsection and sent him backwards.

Goldar stood up and finally noticed that the other rangers were simply watching their fight. "Where's Rito? That little…" Goldar growled before glaring at Tommy. "I'll be back for you later." He said before he disappeared.

Carri crossed her arms over her chest and grinned from behind her helmet. "Looks like we're back and better than ever."

Kim stuck a hand in the air. "Score one for the good guys." she said as the others moved in to exchange high fives. This was awesome; she did not know why she ever gave it up.

"Ah-hem." Kat cleared her throat from behind the bars of her cage. It was hard for her to watch Kim come back and slide in so easily with the others. It almost felt as though they forgot about her.

The rangers powered down and headed over to her. "Are you ok?" Tommy asked as they approached the bars.

"Yes." Kat replied as Kim held her morphers out. "Thank you." Kat replied with a smile. At least she gave them back. She could not help but slightly panic about that.

"You should be able to teleport out now." Jason said as he glanced at the cage. "We have to get back to Aquitar."

Kat nodded before pushing a button on her communicator. In a flash of pink light, she was gone. Once the others were sure she had made it out, they teleported out as well.

* * *

"Well done rangers." Corcus congratulated as they appeared in front of them.

"We couldn't have done it without your help." Adam said as the others quickly agreed with him. "Thank you."

"You completed the quest for your crystals on your own." Delphine pointed out. "That we had nothing to do with."

"Speaking of the crystals," Jason paused to remove the chain from his neck, "here." He said as he held it out to Delphine.

"You have drained them of their ranger powers." Aurico said as he held a hand up, indicating that they did not want them back. "They may prove helpful in the future. You have earned them in your quest, they are yours to keep."

Rocky glanced down at the softly glowing blue crystal resting against his shirt. "I'm not going to wear this." He said as he took it off. "But you can keep an eye on it for me." Rocky said as he hung it around his girlfriend's neck. He watched as she smiled and her fingers brushed up against the two crystals.

Adam watched the exchange and for a moment, he wished it was his girlfriend who had gone on the quest. Then she could wear the glowing green and yellow crystals. Instead, he would have to store it away. "I'll keep mine in a safe somewhere."

"Me too." Jason agreed with a nod.

Tommy took his off and glanced over at Kim. He was not going to wear it. "You should keep it, since it will glow for you." Tommy suggested. He felt the guilt pulling at him. He was giving it to his ex-girlfriend. He justified it by telling himself that it would not glow for Kat.

"I'd be delighted." Kim replied as Tommy stepped up and placed it around her neck. She felt it hit her chest and she looked down at it. She saw the pink and red, glowing together, like Tommy and Kim, fighting as Zeos together. "I'll always keep it close to me." She promised. She could not help but hope that one day it would mean more than just a brief memory.

"Rangers as much as we have enjoyed your company, I believe you have a Power Chamber to get to." Tideus pointed out. Zordon was probably more than ready to speak with his rangers.

"Yes, we do, thanks to you." Jason replied with a smile. The rangers quickly said their goodbyes before teleporting off to the Power Chamber.

* * *

The rangers arrived in the Power Chamber and Kim immediately went over to say hello to Billy by giving him a hug. "It's good to see you." She said with a smile.

"It's good to see anything." Billy joked. They could not get out of the Power Chamber and their computers and technology had been practically useless. They had no idea what was going on.

"Aye ai ai! Rangers it was horrible!" Alpha exclaimed. "We were trapped in here and we had no clue what was going on."

Adam gave the distressed robot a pat on the back. "It's good to be in here again." He said with a smile. He had not thought about the fact that while they had been stressed out on the outside of the Power Chamber, the others were stressed on the inside.

Zordon looked out over the rangers. "Rangers I must applaud you." He said, gaining their full attention. "From the necklaces that some of you are wearing I see that you went on the quest. Now you have truly proven yourselves worthy of the power."

Rocky grinned as he glanced at his friends. "Neither Zedd nor Mondo can stop a ranger."

"Especially when those rangers work together." Jason added with a smile.

"It's too bad I can't stay and ranger some more." Kim said softly. She knew it was only temporary, but the thought that she had to walk away, again, from her friends and the rangers made her sad. "Maybe after the games. But if you guys are ever in trouble and need another ranger, you know who to call."

"So you really do miss rangering?" Tommy questioned. He thought she was pretty serious when she said she was happier without the power.

"I know I teased you guys for having no life, but I'd take another morpher in a heartbeat." Kim replied. She supposed teasing was her way of not acknowledging how much she really missed it.

"We'd love to have you as a ranger." Carri said, as everyone was quick to agree with her. She liked Kim, and although they had not gotten to spend as much quality time together as she thought they would, she thought they could become good friends.

Tommy was the last ranger to agree with Carri. "Yeah." He said with a sigh, smiling as he made eye contact with her. It was hard; despite everything that happened, he still missed her.

"Well guys, I think it's about time to get home." Kat said, purposefully interrupting the moment. They apparently all wanted Kim to be a ranger. Her cousin surprised her, Carri hardly knew her. And were they planning to give Kim her morphers? Who knew, given the way her boyfriend was eyeing his ex.

"Right." Adam agreed as he thought about it. "It's been a while since we've been home."

"Now I have to think up an excuse for the last two days." Rocky said with a sigh. Staying out of parental trouble for disappearing as a ranger was one of the hardest parts about being a ranger.

Carri shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not worried. I'm going to be the most creative and tell the truth." She said with a grin.

"Sure." Tommy replied with a laugh. "And you'll end up in the mental hospital for your efforts." Unless, of course, she morphed for effect, but then she would end up off the team for her efforts.

"Eh." Carri said with a shrug. She was more worried about not coming up with something good and ending up in trouble for her efforts. The kind of trouble that got her parents called, who could possibly cut her off unless she did not come back to New York after graduation. At least it was too late in the year to pull her out of Angel Grove High. She was going to do everything in her power to get to stay in California and go to USC, where she had already been accepted.

Rocky put his arm around his girlfriend, pulling her out of her thoughts. "Well, you know, it hasn't been proven yet that she doesn't belong there." He teased.

Carri raised an eyebrow and glared at him. "You didn't have any plans to actually talk to me later, right?"

"Nope." Rocky said as he let her go and grinned wickedly at her. "That's what I've got Kim for." He added, putting an arm around Kim as he referenced their joke from the Youth Center.

"Fine if that's the way you're going to be." Carri said with a shrug as she went and put an arm around Tommy's waist. "Come on Tommy." She said as he put an arm around her in return.

Before anyone could say anything, four flashes of light flew out of the Power Chamber. Jason looked over at Adam, Kat and Billy, none of which had any better answer than a shrug. "I think we've been left out of a joke." Jason said, shaking his head as he made a mental note to ask Carri about it later.

"Yeah." Adam agreed, just as confused as he was. He shook that off and glanced down at his watch. "I need to get out of here."

Jason and Kat quickly agreed, then the remaining rangers' teleported home.

* * *

The next afternoon Kim was standing at the airport, waiting for her flight. She wished she could stay longer, and in reality she probably could stay another day or two. Her friends more than welcomed her, she had gotten to be a ranger for a while, and Tommy… Kim shook her head. These were the reasons she wanted to stay but also the reasons she needed to go. She could not stay here and insert herself into their lives any longer. She did not want to get any more comfortable with her friends than she already was, only to be more depressed when she still had to leave to go back to the thing that took her out of Angel Grove in the first place.

"It's too bad you have to go." Tommy said as he leaned down and gave Kim a hug, pulling her back into the moment. He had jumped at the chance to take her to the airport, along with Rocky and Carri.

"It was good to see you again." Kim replied as she returned the hug. She left out the rest of that thought. That it was good to see that he had moved on with Kat, that she had not ruined his life when she broke up with him even though she still loved him.

"We were glad to have you here." Rocky said, giving her a hug that she returned.

"Bye Rocky." Kim said as she let go of him and gave him a smile before turning toward Carri.

"We didn't get as much shopping time as we wanted." Carri said with a mock pout.

"That's ok. We have each other's information. We'll hook up after the games and shop." Kim promised her. She hoped to hook up with all the other rangers more often when she was done. "There's this killer mall in Florida I have to take you to." Kim added.

"Awesome." Carri said as her eyes lit up at the thought of hitting up the mall in Florida. Kim grinned at her and she smiled back. "Don't forget to keep in touch." She added.

"I won't." Kim promised as she picked up her bags. "See you guys soon." She said, giving them a wave before heading toward her plane. If there was one thing she was going to do, it was keep up with her Angel Grove friends. She smiled as she approached the terminal. This trip to Angel Grove turned out to be a good idea after all.

* * *

Kat was sitting on the couch when Carri returned from the airport. She was somewhat glad to see the former pink ranger go. Although she couldn't understand why her boyfriend had wanted to see her off, but she supposed that didn't matter, Kim was gone now.

Kat smiled at Carri as she sat down next to her. "Did you enjoy having Kim as the pink ranger?" It was supposed to be a casual question, but Kat was really eager to hear what the answer was.

"It was a change." Carri replied, wondering if there was a good answer to that question. Kat looked like she wanted more so she continued in the best way she knew possible. "I liked Kim; I think we got along really well." She thought there was a potential for a good friendship there but she declined to add that part in at the moment.

"That's…. good." Kat said as she smiled at her cousin. Although she wasn't sure if she meant it. She didn't want the others to get along with Kim. After her little adventure, she had a fear of Kim wanting to come back, to take over Kat's powers and her friends and her boyfriend. She tried to squash it, but it was hard.

"She's nice." Carri said, not missing Kat's pause in her answer. "Plus she thinks like me." She added with a grin.

"Great." Kat said, grinning back at her cousin while rolling her eyes. "That's all we need is someone else around here on your wavelength."

"Hey now." Carri said as she crossed her arms and made a face.

Kat giggled and Carri cracked a smile. Deciding she was done hearing about Kim, Kat moved on. "So tell me about your quest."

"Well," Carri paused unsure of where to begin, "it was one of the biggest challenges I've ever faced." She said, absentmindedly reaching down and pulling out her necklace from behind her shirt. She had stuck both charms on one chain, a chain that was long enough to tuck down into her shirts where the faint glow that they continued to give off would remain unnoticed.

"What about the necklace?" Kat asked as she glanced at the charms Carri was holding. It was obvious they were special.

"These crystals held power from their individual Zeo crystals." Carri explained as she smiled at Kat. "That's how we morphed when everything else was down."

"Really?" Kat questioned as she leaned forward for a closer look. "Can I see them?"

"Sure." Carri replied as she took the necklace off and handed it to Kat. The faint glow immediately dimmed in her hands. Kat gasped and even Carri was slightly surprised, she had never seen it when it was not glowing.

"What happened?" Kat asked. Maybe the glow had run its course. She would hate to think she broke it.

Carri took her necklace back and watched Kat's eyes light up in surprise as it started glowing again. "It only glows for people who have been on the quest." She replied as she dropped it around her neck and tucked it back into her shirt. Carri watched as Kat shifted uncomfortably. She did not know what to say to make her feel better. Somehow, she did not think "sorry you got yourself captured and Kim had to go in your place" was going to do it. Instead, she stood and decided to take off early. "I'm supposed to meet Rocky at the Youth Center later so I'm going to head out."

"See you later." Kat said as she watched her cousin exit. With a sigh, she leaned back into the couch. She knew she should not feel this way but she could not help but think that it wasn't fair. Kim was on her way back to Florida and she still felt as though she was affecting her life. At least she had Tommy back to herself.

* * *

Carri found herself sitting at a table with Matt, Jerry, Luke and John while she waited for Rocky. Matt did not hesitate to figure out why he had not seen her around lately. She was always at the Youth Center. He had been there for most of the day yesterday and none of her gang showed up. "So where were you the past two days?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Out of town." Carri replied with a smile. Matt gave her the look to continue and she quickly made up something bogus. "I met Josh in Houston for a rivalry game." Although she had never actually been to the Astrodome and the two teams weren't even playing there at the moment. She knew he would not research it. She could tell he bought it. He had known her for a long time; he knew that she and Josh argued over their favorite teams often enough in their youth.

"You mean you missed it!" Jerry exclaimed, looking at her in disbelief.

"Missed what?" Carri asked, wondering what happened in Angel Grove that was so important.

"Monster attacks." John replied, his tone suggesting it should have been obvious.

"Oh?" Carri questioned. Anything monster related that happened in town they would not have heard about. They were gone and the Power Chamber was disabled.

"There were these over grown turkey bird things." Luke quickly launched into an explanation. "They attacked us and stalked us."

"These things hadn't been seen here since you were in New York." Matt said as he leaned toward her. "People think one the of old ranger team's enemies have come back. They think the old team may return. We could have two ranger teams in Angel Grove."

"Really? That's so cool." Carri replied, trying hard not to laugh. The locals had no idea that the original rangers and the Zeo rangers were, for the most part, one and the same. There was some suspicion, but a lot of people thought that one of the groups came to Earth to fight one set of bad guys while the Zeo's came for the new set. "I can't believe I missed out on all the action."

"What action?" Rocky asked as he came up behind his girlfriend. She was sitting with some friend she had known since before she moved to New York. All male, of course. The guy she was closest with in the group she actually dated in middle school. That did make him quite a bit jealous, although middle school was a long time ago. He did not understand why his girlfriend didn't make any female friends.

"Apparently while everyone was out of town for spring break, there was this huge attack of these turkey birds that haven't been seen here in a while." Carri replied, looking up at him and grinning.

Rocky raised an eyebrow. "Turkey birds?" he questioned, trying hard not to laugh. "I can't believe I missed it."

"I've got all the details." Luke said as he glanced over at him. "If you guys want them, let me know."

"Will do." Rocky replied. Although he was pretty sure he could imagine everyone getting chased by Tengas well enough on his own.

Carri stood up and put her arm around Rocky. "You ready to go?"

"Yup." Rocky replied, watching as the guys at the table eyed him. The rangers, even before he joined, had for the most part avoided these guys through high school. However, Carri had a long history with them and for that they tolerated each other now.

"Later." Carri said, giving her friends a little wave before squeezing Rocky's side and heading for the door.

* * *

Kat opened her front door and smiled at the man standing on her front porch. "Tommy, hey, I'm glad you came over." She said as she stepped aside and let him in.

"Where else would I be?" Tommy questioned as he shut the door behind himself. "I haven't seen you in a while, thanks to Rita and Zedd." He said as he took her hand and led her to the couch.

"So." Kat said, flashing Tommy a smile. "Did you enjoy having Kim fighting by your side again?" she asked, starting a similar conversation to the one she had with Carri.

"Yeah. It was just like the good old days." Tommy said, smiling without even realizing he had done it.

Kat glanced down to the floor. It was obvious that he liked having Kim there. A lot. "Was it better than… than when I'm there?" She finally spit out. She was not sure how to ask the question. However, she had to know if he cared about Kim more.

Tommy reached over and put his hand under Kat's chin, lifting her face up so that he could look into her eyes. "What Kim and I had is over." He said. He hated saying it aloud but it was the truth, no matter how much he still cared about her. "We may have had fun, but you and I are together now. Kim's coming back didn't change that."

"Really?" Kat questioned. She was relieved. She half expected him to break up with her and ask for her Zeonizers.

"Really." Tommy replied. "You're the one I want to be with now." He assured her. She locked eyes with him and he leaned in and gave her a kiss.

They broke it apart and he smiled at her. He was happy with Kat, that was never a question. However, there was still a part of him that loved and missed Kim. It was hard, he spent so much time keeping that part buried, but it surfaced violently when he saw her again. He knew he would have to let go, have to forget and move on.

"Let's go out." Kat suggested, pulling Tommy's thoughts back to her. "I know this great little restaurant downtown."

"Sounds good." Tommy said with a smile. He stood and reached down, pulling her up with him. Arm in arm the duo headed out of their house, on to their first date in a long time.

* * *

Kim got off the plane and stretched. She saw her teammate Kelly waving to her from her seat. Kelly stood and Kim headed over toward her. "How was it?" Kelly asked as she approached.

"Fun." Kim replied as she thought it over. "I got to see Tommy, Rocky, Adam, Jason and Kat again. And I finally met someone who can keep up with me at the mall."

"Good." Kelly smiled as they started to walk away. "Because we all know I can't."

"We had a lot of fun." Kim said with a sigh. Maybe too much fun. It was going to be even harder to stay focused on gymnastics now. "I got to do a lot of things that I haven't done in forever."

"Like date Tommy?" Kelly questioned hopefully. She knew Kim still loved him. She was hoping she could win him back.

"No." Kim said trying hard not to sound disappointed. "Tommy's dating Kat now."

"Wow." Kelly said, shaking her head. "It's too bad." Kelly stopped short. She did not need to finish that sentence. "Anyway since you're back early you can hit practice with me tomorrow morning."

"Can't wait." Kim said as she smiled at her. She knew what she was going to say. It was too bad she wrote Tommy that stupid letter. She wished that Tommy wasn't with Kat, that she wasn't here. However, she could not tell Tommy that, she could not do that to Kat. Maybe they wouldn't work out. Maybe after the Pan Globals she could go back to Angel Grove, spend time with her friends. Maybe even get a morpher. And maybe, just maybe, she could get back together with the love of her life, Tommy.


	10. Too Far Back

**Disclaimer:** The characters from Xena and Hercules that are featured in this fan fic are property of Universal. The ranger characters belong to Disney. Everyone else is mine.  
**Author's Notes:** This fic takes place after the official end of the Zeo season. Jason just lost his powers and Billy is on Aquitar.

Ranger Scrolls  
"Too Far Back"

Kat found herself sitting across from her boyfriend eating frozen yogurt. She smiled up at him and spoke. "I thought it was a good movie." She said, referencing the film they had just seen.

"Sure." Tommy replied, looking up at her and grinning. "It was great if you're into the happy ending romantic comedy movies."

Kat shook her head. Although Jason had teased him about it, Tommy had agreed to go see the movie with her even though it was not his thing. "Personally I thought Matthew was hilarious and Selma was very good in her role."

"I'm glad you liked it." Tommy said sincerely. "Wait until this summer though." He continued with a grin. "It will be action movies galore. And you and I will have front row seats to every one of them."

"Whatever you say." Kat replied with a smile as she took the last bite of her yogurt. "Come on," she started standing up, "we need to head out or we'll be late meeting the others."

"Coming." Tommy said, scooping up the last of his dessert with a spoon finishing it. He stood and threw their trash away before grabbing Kat's hand in his and leading them off.

* * *

Carri found herself walking through Target with Jason, who out of boredom had agreed to accompany her to pick up a few things. She turned to him and thought for a moment before asking her question. "Don't you miss being… well you know."

"Of course I do." Jason replied. He knew everyone was worried about him. He loved being a ranger and it was hard to lose one's powers, even though he knew he would have to give them back eventually. "I've been through this before though. And now I get to spend my spare time with Emily so I think it was worth it."

"I don't know." Carri said as she thought about it. She loved being a ranger; she could not imagine her life without morphing and kicking alien ass. "I would miss it too much; it's part of me now."

"Trust me," Jason said as he glanced down at her, "no matter how many times you lose or gain power, it will always be a part of you."

Carri nodded in agreement. She tried not to think about it as she looked at the assortment of summer wear. "Check these out." Carri said, picking up a pair of oversized green sunglasses with pink flowers on the corners of the lenses. "What do you think?" she said with a grin as she put them on.

Jason looked at her blankly for a moment before he busted out laughing. She cracked a smile but tried to remain serious. Once Jason finally calmed down enough, he replied. "I think if you wear those the others will get the impression that you've finally gone off the deep end."

Carri rolled her eyes before taking the glasses off and tossing them back down with a laugh, getting another laugh out of Jason as well. She glanced down at her watch briefly before making an agitated sound. "Crap. We'd better cash out or we're going to be late meeting the others."

"You're right." Jason said as he glanced briefly down at his watch. He and Carri hurriedly made their way up front so they could get out of the store and meet the others.

* * *

Rocky watched as the last two members of their group finally arrived. "We were beginning to think you wouldn't show."

"You know me." Carri said with a shrug. "Things take me forever." She had stopped on their way to check out and found something she wanted to look at. Jason's trying to physically drag her away did not deter her, and after her ten minute detour the lines to check out had backed up and it took them forever to get out.

"Everybody ready?" Adam questioned. He ignored their tardiness. It did not matter; they had arranged to meet early enough that they could afford to be late.

"I've been ready." Carri replied with a goofy grin.

"You're not ready." Jason said, watching as she turned to look at him curiously. "You needed those sunglasses. To keep you from going blind in the sun." He watched as she smirked and then he laughed.

"Moving right along." Tommy said once it was obvious that everyone else was on the outside and they were not filling them in.

"Let's go." Rocky said as he moved over and put an arm around Carri's waist. He pulled her close, trying to ignore her little inside joke with Jason. The former red ranger had been back for several months and was happily seeing someone and had no interest in Carri. As much as that should be enough to keep the jealousy at bay, he couldn't help but let it surface when he was reminded how close the duo was. He tried to shake that feeling away as he started to lead Carri to the car. "I don't want to be late for the first pitch."

Kat grabbed Tommy's hand and followed Rocky and Carri. "Come on." She said leading him off.

Moments later Adam and Jason followed behind them, and the group of friends was off to Dodger Stadium for a late afternoon baseball game.

* * *

"Well isn't that cute." Rita said as she peered through her telescope. "They're going to a baseball game." She filled Zedd in as she glanced back at him. It was so cute it made her want to puke.

"Quite sickening if you ask me sis." Rito replied. Cute was not exactly the word he would use.

"Well nobody asked you." Goldar pointed out with a growl.

"We have been trying for four years to destroy those pathetic power rangers." Zedd spoke from his spot on his throne, ignoring the discussion of those around him. "If it hadn't been for King Mondo and the Machine Empire, we would have been successful by now. But none of that matters now, I have an idea."

"That's what you always say." Rita was quick to point out. "This one had better be good."

"It is." Zedd replied quickly, irritated with his wife's implied questioning of his abilities. "By placing the Time Crystal in the correct position, we're going to turn time back to before the rangers were born. Then all we have to do is kill their parents and we'll never have those brats to deal with."

"I like it." Rita said with a smile. Why had not they thought about this before? Their parents would not be able to defend themselves, and Zordon would not know what was going on until it was too late.

"Oooh, oooh, Ed, let me place the crystal!" Rito exclaimed, practically jumping up and down.

Zedd shot him a look, contemplating momentarily yelling at him for calling him Ed, before deciding that wasting time on this moron right now wasn't worth it. "This is a very delicate job. One wrong move and everything changes." Zedd said as he brought out the Time Crystal.

"Gotcha Ed." Rito replied, snatching the crystal from Zedd's hands and taking off.

"Wait." Zedd said with a growl, but his idiot brother-in-law was already gone. He could not believe he had taken the crystal and disappeared. He was going to have to send someone after him before he messed this all up.

* * *

Rocky watched as three runs crossed home plate. "We're winning!" he exclaimed as he exchanged high fives with the others.

"Thanks to Mike." Carri reminded everyone of the catcher's homerun moments ago.

"I knew we kept him around for a reason." Rocky joked.

Kat glanced out over the baseball field. She was not a huge fan of the sport, but she was having a good time. "This is fun."

"Much better than that movie you dragged me to earlier." Tommy teased as he put an arm around her and gave her a half hug.

"What did you go see?" Adam questioned.

"Fools Rush In." Kat replied.

Jason laughed. "I told you so." He replied. There was no way he would willingly go to a romantic comedy.

Carri glanced over toward the former ranger and rolled her eyes. "Please. You would go in a heartbeat if Emily asked you to."

"Not a chance." Jason replied as he shook her head. "Besides, Emily knows better than to drag me out to some stupid romantic comedy."

Carri had a comeback ready but she never got to say it. All of the rangers felt something weird going on around them. Before they could figure out what was going on, they felt as though they were being sucked through a straw as they barreled backwards through time.

* * *

"Ok Ed, I planted it." Rito said as he returned.

"You idiot!" Zedd yelled, standing up and pointing his staff at him. "You didn't even get directions before you left! You planted it at the wrong place and wrong time!"

"Wait a minute Zedd." Rita turned from her telescope and back toward her husband. She was trying to keep her brother from being creamed. "It appears as though Rito sent them back to some year BC. They'll be out of our hair for a while."

"For a while. But as soon as they get back…" Zedd let his voice trail off. He was too furious to think of a good punishment for Rito to finish that sentence.

"And if they don't come back?" Goldar questioned.

Zedd glanced over toward him. "Then Rito gets to live." He finished as he sat back down in his throne. Maybe by some miracle Rito's idiocy would work out for the best.

* * *

Carri looked around at her surroundings. She was in a clearing in the woods, but she had no idea as to where she was. Before she could react, she heard a voice.

"Xena is that you?" A blonde girl questioned as she popped out into the clearing. "You know you were supposed to meet me over an hour ago. Where have you." She stopped short when she looked up and realized she was not talking to her friend. "Who are you?" the girl questioned, as she looked Carri over. "And what are you wearing? You look more available than one of the girls who work for Meg."

Carri snorted and crossed her arms over her chest. She had no idea who Meg was, but she was under the impression that this girl just called her a prostitute or something along those lines. "I'm Carri. In addition, I am wearing clothes. And I have no idea who Meg is but I would like to know who you are and where I am."

"I'm Gabrielle." She replied, as she looked her over cautiously. She was not quite sure what to think about this strange girl. "And you're in Greece, heading toward the town of Trechous. And those are not clothes."

Carri raised her eyebrows and had to bite her tongue to keep herself from going on about the clothes argument. Instead, she took a deep breath and continued. "If you can't tell, I'm not from here."

Gabrielle let out a little laugh. That was obvious. "Where are you from?"

"Angel Grove." Carri spoke quickly before realizing that probably was a stupid answer. She doubted this girl knew of Angel Grove."A town far away from here." She amended.

"Don't worry; we'll help you fit in." A voice said as another female approached the clearing.

"We will?" Gabrielle asked, turning toward Xena, her best friend's long absence suddenly forgotten.

"Yes we will." Xena replied as she stepped forward. "I'm Xena. If you want to follow me we'll get you some clothes."

Carri grunted. She was tired of them knocking her clothes but she supposed she had to fit in. With a sigh, she looked them over. "What do you have in mind? Because, no offense, I'm not dressing like Gabrielle." Carri was not the long, covering everything dress kind of woman.

"Hey!" Gabrielle exclaimed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'll find you something." Xena replied, ignoring Gabrielle for the moment. "Maybe something similar to mine. Does that work for you?"

Carri thought for a moment. It still was not her style, but she supposed it was an improvement. "It will do." As long as she wasn't wearing that long heavy dress.

"Follow me." Xena said as she turned and walked off, her horse Argo's reigns in hand.

"Xena." Gabrielle hissed as she ran and caught up with her. "Why are we helping her?"

"It's hard to explain, but I feel compelled to." Xena replied. From the minute, she saw the girl in the clearing there was something about her that made Xena want to help. "Besides she's obviously lost and alone. She could use our help."

"Whatever." Gabrielle replied, resigning herself to the fact they were going to help. "You're the one with the sword, whatever you say goes."

"I know." Xena replied with a chuckle as she led them on.

* * *

An hour later, Carri walked up to Xena and Gabrielle wearing her new outfit which consisted of a skirt somewhat resembling Xena's and a top that started out above her waist and went over her shoulders with two leather straps. She was also sporting the sword she talked Xena into giving her. She was not about to be stuck out here with no powers and no weapons.

"How do I look?" she asked as she grinned at them. It was not exactly her first choice but it would do. Besides, if she needed to, she had a feeling she could move quick enough to kick ass in it.

"Fine." Xena replied. She picked it out for her, she wouldn't think anything less.

"You let her have a sword?" Gabrielle questioned in disbelief as she crossed her arms over her chest. "You've never even offered me one."

"You wouldn't use it." Xena was quick to point out. "Since she claims to know how to use it I figured why not."

"Prove it." Gabrielle challenged, her arms still planted firmly across her chest.

Carri shrugged her shoulders. She didn't mind proving it. She didn't have any real weapons training, other than being a power ranger, but she figured she had used those skills enough in morphed battles to be able to use them here. Xena drew her sword and sparred with Carri for a few minutes. Although Xena let up on her some, she was quite pleased to see that she could hold her own.

Gabrielle hated to admit it, but she was good. "Impressive." She said simply once they were through.

"Thank you." Carri replied a self-satisfied grin plastered on her face.

"Only thing left to do is ditch that ugly bracelet." Gabrielle said as she gestured to her communicator.

"Not a chance." Carri snapped quickly. It was not functioning presently, but it very well may be her only shot at returning home. "It has sentimental value."

Gabrielle shrugged her shoulders. "Fine." She replied. She did not have to get snappy with her.

"Let's go." Xena said as she led them off. "We're running behind as it is." She watched as the others nodded before quickly following her.

* * *

Iolaus was having a drink in a bar in the middle of Trechous. He looked up and saw an older woman coming in with several guards, toting a box. "What's going on over there?" he asked the bartender.

"That woman is carrying the Hope Diamond." The bartender replied as he leaned forward. "Seems as though all of Greece wants to get a look at it."

"Oh no!" The woman exclaimed, catching the attention of everyone in the bar. "The diamond! It's missing!"

"Autolycus!" Iolaus exclaimed, shaking his head as he ran out of the bar and in search of the diamond.

* * *

"This my boy is how great lives are led." Autolycus said as he glanced over at his companion, the boy he was helping for reasons he was did not know. "You steal something important and sell it for much more than what it's worth."

Rocky looked over at him and frowned. "Don't you worry about getting caught?" he asked. He did not like this one bit. It went against everything he believed in.

"Me? Get caught?" Autolycus questioned, rather amused. "Ha. No worries my boy, there's a reason they call me the King of Thieves."

"But I'll bet the King of Thieves didn't count on me being one of the first ones to hear about the stolen diamond." Iolaus said as he approached them from behind.

"Just great." Rocky said as they turned around. "We're busted, and we're going to get in trouble. All because you had to steal some diamond."

"Wait just one second here." Autolycus said as he grinned over at Rocky. "Now Iolaus here is a very reasonable man. I'm sure he'd agree that this diamond is more worthwhile as a quick source of income."

"Not hardly." Iolaus said as he glared from Autolycus to his companion.

"Aw, come on." Autolycus said, watching as Iolaus gave him a stern look. He sighed. He did not want to give it back but better to return it than to deal with Iolaus and friends. "Fine." He grumbled as he handed the diamond over.

"Now what?" Rocky questioned, wondering if he was going to spend the rest of his life in an ancient jail cell.

"We wait for my friends, who should be here any minute now, and then we take the diamond back." Iolaus replied. This wasn't on the day's agenda but they'd have to make time for it.

"Don't worry; he's not turning us in." Autolycus said as he made a face. "Our biggest problem is how to make up for the loss of income." He shook his head as he glanced at Iolaus. "So what are you all up to?"

"I assume you mean me, Xena, Gabrielle, and as soon as we drop the diamond off, Herc." Iolaus said, watching as Autolycus nodded. "We're off to try to intercept Drecos's army, stop their attacks."

Autolycus raised an eyebrow. This could have potential. "Mind if we join you?"

Iolaus simply shook his head. There was only one reason Autolycus would be interested in joining them to fight an army. "Only if you promise not to steal the rare jewels they're carrying." They had plans to give those back to the villages they destroyed.

"I would never dream of it." Autolycus replied with a grin. Of course, that was exactly what he planned on doing, but he would not tell them that. Once they won the battle, he'd grab the jewels and take off.

Before Iolaus could respond, Xena's voice called out to him. "Iolaus!" she exclaimed as she approached him. "What are you doing here?" This was not the chosen meeting point.

"Getting the Hope Diamond back from Autolycus." Iolaus replied as he rolled his eyes. "Come on, we have to return this before we meet Herc."

"Autolycus!" Gabrielle exclaimed, shaking her head. "How come every time we run into you, you're stealing something?"

"Simple my dear." Autolycus said with a smile. "That's because I'm."

"The King of Thieves." Xena finished, cutting him off. They'd all heard him say it a thousand times. "Trust me, we get it. By the way, this is Carri, and Carri meet Iolaus, Autolycus and…" Xena's voice trailed off as she didn't recognize the new guy.

Carri was not paying any attention to Xena, she was too busy staring at Rocky, trying to figure out if it was really him. She could not be sure until she saw the communicator attached firmly to his wrist. Mind made up, she ran over to him and gave him a hug.

"Well look at that." Iolaus commented, watching the duo embrace. "She doesn't even know his name and he gets a hug."

"How does he get all the luck?" Autolycus questioned as the duo moved in for a passionate kiss. She was cute, he wanted her to greet him like that.

"I thought I was alone." Carri said. She was so relieved to find out that she was not the only ranger here. "I tried the communicators but." She stopped and shook her head.

"I know. That was the first thing I tried." Rocky replied. Of all the other rangers to find first, he was glad he found her. At least he did not have to worry about her anymore. "I'm so glad you're here."

"I wonder where the others are," Carri said pausing to think about it, "or if they're even here. Assuming Zedd did this, who knows where he sent everybody."

"I don't know but I."

"Ah-hem." Xena cleared her throat, stopping Rocky short. She watched as both of them turned toward her. "I believe you owe us an explanation."

"This is Rocky, my boyfriend." Carri said as she smiled at Xena. They had so much to discuss that it was easy to get caught up in talking to Rocky. However, she did owe Xena an explanation after all Xena helped her. "If you haven't figured it out already, we are seriously in the wrong time. With no way to get back."

"It seems like you're stuck here for now." Xena said. She was not sure what she thought about time travel, it was not as if this was a normal occurrence. "You're welcome to stick with us until you return home. Or the rest of time, if that's what it takes."

"The rest of time?" Rocky repeated as he and Carri exchanged glances. He hoped that was not the case. With a sigh, he put his arm around her.

Iolaus was the first of the group to speak. "Come on, we had better get moving. We're already running behind." He said. And with that, the group was off to return the diamond.

* * *

Jason watched as one second Carri was about to comment, and the next the entire Zeo team disappeared. "Where did they go!" he exclaimed, jumping up.

"Sit down and shut up!" a drunk fan yelled from behind their seats.

"Did you not see my friends just vanish?" Jason questioned. Maybe they didn't see it. That probably was not a bad thing.

"You came here alone." Another Dodger fan called out. "Are you crazy?"

Jason declined to comment back as he rushed out of the aisle and down the stairs. His friends were there, regardless of whether anyone else realized it. Zedd had to have had a hand in this.

As soon as he found a secure spot, he brought the communicator he still wore to his mouth. "Zordon?" he questioned.

"Go ahead Jason." Zordon's booming voice replied.

"The Zeo team, they just disappeared from their seats." Jason quickly filled him in on the situation.

"According to our scanners, they are right where they should be." Zordon replied. The constantly monitored the rangers' whereabouts and nothing was out of place.

"No they're not. Something's not right." Jason said, glancing around briefly before continuing. "They got sucked through a portal at the game. Nobody else seems to have any memory of them ever being here."

"If what you say is true, then Lord Zedd must have used some sort of magic to interfere with our sensors." Zordon said as he considered the possibilities. "You must teleport to the Power Chamber at once."

"On my way." Jason said. He gave one more glance around before tapping a button on his communicator and teleporting off in a flash of white light.

* * *

"Give me that." The gang leader snarled as he ripped a money pouch out of a defenseless villager's hand. "Now I'll use your money for something useful." He said before turning toward the man's companion. "Yours too." He said before yanking his money pouch as well.

Out of nowhere, Hercules stepped in front of the gang. "I don't recommend you do that."

The gang leader laughed. "And who exactly do you think is going to stop me?"

"We will." Herc's new friend, the teen he was helping for reasons he was unsure of, said as he stepped up beside him.

"I think you should leave this to me." Hercules said as he turned toward Tommy.

"I always help out an innocent in trouble." Tommy said with a smile. Of course, his kind of trouble was usually ranger related, but how hard could this be? He seriously doubted this gang was more difficult than the Tengas.

"In that case." Hercules said with a smile as he and Tommy went to face the gang. A fight ensued, one that Tommy and Hercules won fairly quickly. Before long, the gang was gone and the villagers had their money back.

"Thank you." The man said as he retrieved his money pouch. That was all he had to buy food for his family.

"There you are." Iolaus called out as he approached the duo. "I figured I'd find you off saving someone."

"Iolaus, about time you got here." Hercules said with a smile. "I'd like you to meet." Before he could do the introductions, he was interrupted.

"Tommy." Rocky said as he and Carri headed over to him. "It's good to see you." He figured the more of their Zeo team they could pull together, the better their chances of figuring out a way out of there.

"I was starting to think I was alone." Tommy replied. He had been walking around with Hercules for a while now with no sign that the others were there or that the rangers ever existed in this time. He was starting to get a bit worried.

"Once again, no introductions needed." Gabrielle said dryly as she looked at the small group that obviously knew each other.

"Tommy," Xena started, ignoring her friend's comment for the moment, "are you going to come with us to fight Drecos?"

Tommy was not sure what the deal with Drecos was, Hercules had not mentioned him. He glanced at Rocky and Carri, both of whom nodded. "I'm in." He said, figuring the others could fill him in later.

"In that case let's go. We're already behind schedule." Iolaus pointed out. If they did not hurry, they were going to miss their intercept point. Drecos's army should be very close to them right now.

Autolycus stepped in front of Tommy before he could leave. "Seeing as how no one else plans to say anything, I'm Autolycus, this is Xena, Gabrielle and Iolaus."

"Nice to meet you." Tommy said. He watched as Autolycus gave him a quick nod before turning and gathering with the rest of the group as they headed out. Tommy intentionally held back, and Rocky and Carri joined him, the three tailing the others with enough distance that they could talk.

"So by the looks of things, we're back in the past, I'd say late BC." Tommy said as he glanced at the two. He assumed the bit about the past was obvious. He had been picking up as many clues as he could from historical references to exactly where they were.

"So then that puts us in ancient Greece." Carri commented, although she figured everyone had a handle on the Greece part.

Rocky shook his head. "We still should be able to contact someone." He thought Zordon should be on Earth at this time. If that was the case, their communicators should work.

"Zordon said the power has been around for a while but we don't know much else." Tommy pointed out as he thought it over. "I'm sure someone is out there. My best guess is that their frequency isn't strong enough yet to pick up our communicators."

"That makes sense." Carri said, watching as Rocky shook his head in agreement. She wondered if that meant they would have to travel to America, or what would eventually become America, and physically seek out the Command Center. It would take months and they would be alone and they may not find it. But that may be the only chance they had.

"Here they are." Hercules said, his voice pulling the rangers away from their conversation.

"Alright," Xena said as she motioned for the group to huddle up around her, "this is what we're going to do."

* * *

"Aye ai ai!" Alpha exclaimed as he turned frantically toward Jason. "It appears as though there was a time warp signal, too faint for our sensors to detect. It has sent the rangers back in time."

"What's the source of the signal?" Jason asked, his mind running with ways they may be able to get them back.

"That is yet to be determined, but I'll keep," Alpha paused as the Power Chamber's alarms started to sound. "Aye ai ai!" he exclaimed once more.

Jason turned toward the viewing screen in time to see the commotion Zedd had started. "With the rangers gone, what are we going to do?" He was fully prepared to jump down there and fight, powers or no powers, if he was the Earth's only hope.

"I will contact Trey and ask him to come protect the Earth until we are able to retrieve the rangers." Zordon replied. Trey was going to be their best option for the time being.

Jason nodded and focused on the viewing globe. Hopefully Trey would be enough.

* * *

The enemy soldiers were marching through the woods, looking for their next victim. Out of nowhere, a giant gold ring, more precisely Xena's chakram, went flying through the air, followed by Xena and Carri.

"What the?" Questioned one of the soldiers. Although that was all he was able to say as the charkam got to him, slicing his throat.

Xena caught the chakram in her hand as it came barreling back toward her. "Who's next?" she asked as she clipped it back to her belt and the hand-to-hand combat began.

All through the woods, much of the same thing was going on, minus the charkam. The other three teams, who were strategically placed for the ambush, were moving in to attack. Rocky and Autolycus had some troops, while Hercules and Tommy took another group and Gabrielle and Iolaus faced off against the rest.

Xena was having fun fighting until she noticed their leader, the only man standing to the side watching instead of in the battle. "Drecos." She said simply.

"Xena, long time no see." Drecos said with a smile. "How are you? Good I hope. I have been doing well, attacking and destroying villages and everything that lay in them. But enough about me. What are you up to?"

"I was enjoying some time off until I heard about a certain army trying to take over the world." Xena said, gripping her sword and twirling it around once for effect. "Now I'm here to stop them."

"I don't think so." Drecos replied, a little too calmly for Xena's taste. He then clapped his hands and out of nowhere, two dozen more soldiers appeared.

"Behind you!" Xena called out to Carri.

Carri turned around just in time to see what Xena saw, and was barely able to get her sword around in time to kill the guy attacking her. She was not fast enough to be able to stop the dozen more than were rushing in to get to her, and neither was Xena. After a tiresome fight, the soldiers had both of them in their grasp.

"Well Xena, look at this. I'm holding all the cards now." Drecos said with a smile. "As soon as we're done here, I'll destroy the rest of your pathetic team." He paused, turning to point to one of his soldiers. "You!" he bellowed, motioning for him to come forward.

The soldier who was dressed like all the others with only his eyes showing had been attentively watching the fight. He came quickly once he was called upon.

"Meet my new favorite soldier." Drecos said with a smile. "You could say he just dropped out of nowhere. But I like him, enough to let him have a very important first kill. Her." Drecos finished, pointing toward Carri and watching Xena struggle. "I can't kill you first, and then you'd miss out on this."

The soldier took his sword out and headed over toward Carri. He reared it back, and in one swift motion, he plunged it toward her.

* * *

After finishing up the fight against Zedd's group of Tengas, the Gold Ranger teleported himself into the Power Chamber. As his black streak materialized into Trey, Zordon greeted him. "Thank you Trey for coming to assist us in our time of need."

"It is the least I can do." Trey replied. What they did, what Jason did for him is something that he will be repaying for a long time. "Have you found the source of the time jump yet?"

"It appears as though the rangers were sent back with the Time Crystal." Alpha replied.

"Good." Jason replied. If they had known before the fight was over, they had not bothered to share that with him. "So how do we get them back?"

"Little is known about the time crystal." Zordon said as he glanced down at his original red ranger. "In theory, destroying it will return the other rangers to the present time." Unfortunately, a theory was about as good as they were going to get.

"Then let me go destroy it." Jason said. He was ready to get his friends back.

"It must be destroyed by a morphed ranger." Zordon replied. He understood Jason's eagerness at completing the task but it was too risky. "It is unknown if the blast from the crystal's destruction will effect an unmorphed human."

Trey could tell that Jason wanted to go but he was certain that the former ranger knew better. "I will be happy to assist you in this matter." He said as he stepped forward.

"I cannot pinpoint the crystals location." Alpha explained as he grabbed a small device off the console. "I can teleport you close, and using this locator you should be able to find it." He said as he handed the locator over.

Trey took the locator and tucked it into the belt of his uniform. "I will not let you down." He promised as Alpha teleported him away.

* * *

Carri sucked in a deep breath. She was prepared for the worst, which at this point looked like death. She was not quite sure how she felt about it. As a ranger, she had accepted the fact that death during battle could be the way she exited this world. However, she always thought it would be Mondo or Zedd that did it, not some random soldier in an ancient Greek army.

She closed her eyes and she could hear the sword slice through flesh. However, it wasn't her that took the hit, it was one of the soldiers holding her. As he collapsed to the ground, she turned and immediately kicked the other soldier holding her, setting herself free. The moment Xena realized Carri was free she freed herself as well.

"How dare you betray me?" Drecos yelled as he glared at his soldier. Looking around he saw that there were only a few members of his army left standing. "You may have won this time Xena but next time…" Drecos let his voice trail off. "Retreat!"

Just like that, Drecos's army was disappearing into the forest, except the one lone soldier who had betrayed him. Xena approached him and looked him over. "Who are you and why did you defy Drecos?"

"As good as the benefits were they're not worth killing my teammate." The soldier replied, grinning as he took his headgear off.

"Adam!" Carri exclaimed as she immediately went to give him a hug. She owed him big time. His being there was the only reason she was not a corpse on the ground right now.

Adam returned the hug just as someone else was calling his name. He turned to see Tommy and Rocky jogging over toward him. As they approached they slowed down, and Rocky gave him a slap on the shoulder. "I saw what happened. You know I would have killed you if you hadn't saved her." Rocky joked. He knew Adam would never have thought not to save her.

"Well you know, as annoying as she may be, I just couldn't bring myself to do it." Adam teased as he looked over at Carri and grinned.

Carri groaned. "I quit." She said as she crossed her arms over her chest. The three male rangers simply laughed at her. "I'm not kidding. Two thousand years in the past and you guys still make fun of me."

"Fine. I didn't kill you because Zordon would get mad if I did." Adam said, still teasing. Carri huffed and he continued. "Come on, you know I wouldn't do it because you're my friend."

Carri looked like she was letting up a bit but before anyone could say anything, Gabrille piped up. "Zordon? Who's Zordon? Is that some type of God?"

"Everybody, this is Adam." Tommy said suddenly, purposely dodging Gabrielle's question. "Adam, meet Hercules, Xena, Gabrielle, Iolaus and Autolycus."

Adam said hello and the others acknowledged him before Xena turned and started to lead them off. "Come on, I have some things that need to get done."

"There's probably a diamond out there somewhere calling my name." Autolycus said as he started to head in a different direction. "You coming?" He called back to Rocky. He had become oddly attached to the boy.

"No, I think I've found where I want to be." Rocky said with a smile as he slipped his hand into his girlfriend's after she had finally let her hands drop back down to her side.

"In other words, he's smartened up and he's joining us at the castle." Iolaus said, mentally hitting himself for mentioning their destination. He was fairly certain that would gain Autolycus's interest.

"Castle?" Autolycus repeated as he stopped and abruptly turned toward then. "In that case I might just tag along."

"Figures." Iolaus replied with a sigh. He had to open his mouth.

As they made their way down a path, a woman approached them out of nowhere. "Xena?" she practically sobbed. She waited for her to nod her head yes and she continued. "Oh thank the Gods. Callisto, she sent me to find you, she said she would spare my family if I told you that you are next. She has already destroyed my village."

Xena got a deadly look in her eyes, similar to the look Carri got just before she destroyed something. Quickly she jumped on the back of her horse. "Follow me."

"Where are we going?" Gabrielle questioned, watching as Xena allowed the horse to trot forward before starting to run to keep up.

"We're going to stop Callisto." Xena replied as she headed off in the direction that her messenger came from.

* * *

"There it is." Trey said as he spotted the crystal. He headed over toward it and held his power staff high in the air. "Let's see what happens when I destroy it."

As the staff came down, the crystal smashed into thousands of pieces, the blast rocking all around him. Once it was finished and the crystal was gone, Trey looked on in approval. "Let's see if that does the trick." He said as he teleported back.

"Aye ai ai! Nothing is happening! They should have been back by now!" Alpha exclaimed, in full in robot panic mode. "The only person who can help us get them back now is Lord Zedd!"

"There's no way Zedd will help us." Jason said, shaking his head. He would figure something out. There had to be a way to launch an assault on the Lunar Palace to get the rangers back.

"Do not give up Jason." Zordon spoke in an attempt to keep the former ranger's spirits up. "As long as there is a way to get them back, we will keep trying."

"Don't worry Zordon. I know we will get them back. If I have to go up there and extract the information from Zedd myself." Jason replied. He hoped it would not come to that but he was not going to leave his friends stuck somewhere.

* * *

Xena burst into Callisto's camp, the others hot on her heels. She came to a stop and watched as a blonde woman stepped forward. "You wanted me so here I am." Xena said simply as she dismounted her horse.

"Look who it is." Callisto said with a smile. "And you brought friends. How cute." She said as she turned and glanced back toward her army. "Get them." She said simply before stepping back.

As her faithful army did as they were told, Callisto walked around until she spied the girl she was looking for, hiding in a corner. "Come here." She called out.

The girl came forward and was immediately greeted by Callisto. "You know, I understand why I feel like helping you so much. You remind me a lot of myself when I was young, so innocent and pure. Until she ruined it." Callisto hissed, turning the girl violently so she could point Xena out to her.

The girl looked closely at the battlefield, noticing Xena first before recognizing all the people fighting with her. "Those are my friends!" Kat exclaimed.

"Well they're in my way." Callisto said as she roughly grabbed Kat's shoulder. "They're history now." She said as she led her off.

"No!" Kat yelled, ripping herself free from Callisto's grip as she ran toward them.

"Kat!" Tommy called to her as she approached. He was grateful to see his girlfriend there. He was hoping they would find her eventually.

"You guys need some help?" Kat questioned as she made her way into the group of rangers.

"Feel free to jump in." Tommy said as he gestured to the army they were fighting against.

"You got it." Kat said. She quickly moved into position to start attacking the army that moments ago were protecting her.

"How dare she!" Callisto hissed. She did not take her under her wing for her to defect. "Now she will die too." Callisto said as she lifted her right arm up and created a fireball in her hand.

Xena reacted quickly, grabbing her chakram from her side and slinging it through the air. "You're not going to win that easily." She said as she sliced Callisto's arm cleanly off.

"That hurt." Callisto said with a growl as she dropped the stub down, watching as a new arm started to grow in the old one's place.

Carri moved up beside Xena just in time to see Callisto's arm grow itself. "Well, that was gross." She commented. It was not everyday an enemy re-grew appendages.

Callisto smiled at her. "Thank you." She said before lifting her new right arm and flicking her hand in Xena and Carri's direction, sending them flying through the air and into a wall. She watched them fall to the ground then she let out a sigh. "This is getting boring now."

"Well let me spice it up a bit." Hercules said as he ran at her from the side, preparing to hit her.

"How soon you mortals forget." Callisto said as she moved swiftly out of his way. "I'm a god now. Have fun." She said disappearing before anyone else could attempt to attack her.

As Callisto left, the rest of her army regrouped, ready to fight her cause until the end. Tommy was the first to notice their new resolve. "Let's finish these guys off." He said as he moved toward the front of the group of rangers.

"Right." The others agreed before falling into formation behind Tommy and moving into fighting stance.

The others found themselves confused by the way these five teenagers fell into some sort of army mode of their own. "What are they doing?" Gabrielle asked as she gripped her staff. She glanced up at Xena who simply shook her head in response.

The five rangers ran at the small army, who was highly amused that this group that thought they were going to defeat them. They were quickly surprised by the fighting skills that all five rangers brought to the table. After proving that they could and would beat them, the army retreated, leaving the rangers victorious.

"Ok what gives?" Iolaus said as the rest of the group approached the rangers. "You guys fight this army off like this and we have to wonder, who exactly are you?"

"We're superheroes known as the power rangers." Tommy said simply. He was not going to lie. Besides, maybe there were rangers here that they had seen that could help them.

Gabrielle could not help but laugh. She did not know what a power ranger was but if it was a superhero, she seriously doubted that these five fit the bill. "That is the funniest thing I've ever heard."

Rocky glanced over at his girlfriend, who was eyeing Gabrielle with her arms crossed over her chest. "It's the truth." he quickly spoke up before Carri had an opportunity to say anything.

Hercules ignored Gabrielle and turned his attention toward the rangers. "What exactly are power rangers?"

"We're Earth's only line of defense against evil." Carri explained as she drew her eyes away from Gabrielle, whose laughter had finally ceased. "We morph and fight battles against space aliens."

A serious look crossed Gabrielle's face. Maybe they were telling the truth. She was curious now as to what exactly being a power ranger meant. "What's morphing?"

"We have morphers that give us our powers." Rocky said, wondering how exactly to explain morphing to someone who did not have access to any kind of modern technology. "We take our morpher and call for the power, and our ranger suits cover us and protect us and give us ranger abilities."

Autolycus stared at the boy that he once thought could be his protégé. "Why that's the most absurd, most outrageous, most" he stopped short when a stranger appeared and cut him off.

"You're forgetting true." The stranger said simply as he approached the group.

Hercules turned and saw his father standing there. "What are you doing here?" he asked. His father usually did not show up unless there was something directly involving him.

"I am here because the presence of these five strangers has disrupted the timeline." His father replied.

"Who is he?" Kat whispered, turning toward her cousin who shrugged.

"I am Zeus." He said, answering the question he heard Kat ask. "I am here to return the timeline to its proper state by sending you all to your correct time."

As the others celebrated, Carri made a face and asked the question that they were all thinking about. "So how did we get here in the first place?"

"It appears as though someone used the Time Crystal." Zeus replied with a sigh. "How they got it I am unsure as it is currently hidden on Mount Olympus."

"It had to have been Zedd." Adam said with a sigh. Zedd was the only one who would want to send them back in time.

"Why did the crystal scatter us to different places?" Tommy questioned. He would have assumed it would have sent them all together; after all, they were sitting together in the baseball stadium.

"You were sent to the location of your ancestors." Zeus said as he turned toward the small group from his time. "This is why some of you felt an overwhelming need to help these teens."

The rangers buzzed for a few seconds about who exactly their ancestors were. Most of them were surprised. This was Greek mythology come to life. Of course, they had seen a lot in their time, there was no reason that myths had to only be myths.

"Now it is time for you to say goodbye to your ancestors and return home." Zeus said as he glanced toward the rangers. "I will return you to the location you left. Your return will be undetected by others."

"I guess this is goodbye." Tommy said as he stepped forward and approached Hercules.

Hercules nodded and took his hand. He was proud of Tommy. It was obvious that Tommy was the leader of this group and a well-respected warrior. "I'm glad to see my descendants still want to fight on the side of good."

As Hercules dropped Tommy's hand, Xena stepped up and went to say goodbye to Carri. "I'm glad to see my family still fights for what's right." She had not always been that way but she fought hard for all things good now. It is good to know that fighting for what is right stayed in the family.

Xena gave Carri a hug just as Autolycus went to shake Rocky's hand. "I'm surprised you're not a thief. I figured my family tree would be full of them." He said as he made a face. "But you are doing something important with your life; I suppose that's what counts."

"You could get into something else too." Rocky pointed out, watching as Autolycus immediately frowned. "Then again, you are doing fine, and as long as there are people around like Iolaus to stop you, I guess its ok." Rocky said, watching as Iolaus chuckled and Autolycus shook his head.

Kat and Adam were busy staring at the ground. They had both left their ancestors behind as both of them firmly fought for the wrong side. Xena noticed their faces and approached them. "Adam, Drecos may not be a good guy, but he's still your ancestor. And if you ignore the fact that he'd be fighting with this Ed character, I'm sure he'd be proud of you."

Adam thought about it, giving Xena a slight smile before she turned toward Kat. "And Callisto may be an evil, vengeful goddess now, but she wasn't always like this. She used to be innocent and pure. Her outcome is my fault. I'm sure she sees her younger self in you and she's probably jealous of you."

Kat seemed to be pleased with Xena's words. As Kat smiled, Zeus decided that it was time to put things back the way they should be. "And now to send you all back where you belong." Zeus used his power to bring his hands forth and open up a portal. The rangers stepped forward, and much like before they got sucked into the portal, only this time they were thrust forward through time, back to their seats in Dodger's stadium.

As the portal closed, Zeus disappeared, leaving the others there to reflect on what happened. "Well, that was interesting to say the least." Iolaus commented.

Gabrielle nodded in agreement, although interesting did not quite cover it. "It must have been different to meet your descendants."

"I'm still surprised I didn't have any thieves in the family." Autolycus said, shaking his head.

Iolaus shot him a look. "Did you ever stop to think that everyone else knows that stealing isn't the right thing to do?"

"Actually, no." Autolycus said matter-of-factly. Stealing was the only thing he knew and he was damn good at it.

Xena sighed. "Come on guys, we still have one more stop." With those words, she grabbed her horse and pushed to the front of the group, leading the others off to their next destination.

* * *

Rita backed away from her telescope. The scene she saw sickened her. The five Zeo rangers were sitting happily in their seats, having just been joined by Jason. "I don't believe it!" she screeched. "They're back!"

"Rito!" Zedd bellowed, his head snapping toward his useless brother-in-law.

Goldar let out a laugh. "Someone is in trouble."

"Yeah Ed?" Rito questioned as Zedd's gaze found him.

Zedd stood up, furious. He was already angry this was the last straw. "It's Lord Zedd, Z E D D, Zedd!"

"What's going on?" Rito asked, genuinely confused at why he was in this much trouble.

"The power rangers have made it back to the present." Goldar happily informed him.

"Oh." Rito replied, glancing up at the furious Lord Zedd. "Not good." He said before taking off.

Zedd jumped off his throne and chased after him. "Get back here!"

Goldar laughed as Rito ran for his life and Zedd chased him. Rita simply moaned and put her hands to her head. "I think I'm getting another headache." She said before heading out of the main room, leaving her brother's fate in her husband's hands.


	11. New Enemy

**Disclaimer: **The characters from USA High belong to Peter Engle Productions and Callisto and Theodorus belong to Universal. The characters from the known PR universe belong to Saban (as of last week). All other characters are mine.**  
Author's Note: **For anyone who watched USA High, you might remember that Nicholas Guest played Ashley's father on the show. He also had a role in Time Force as one of Mr. Collins employees. Long lost twins maybe? Best explanation I will attempt to come up with lol.  
Also, this fic was originally written right after Callisto as a goddess was killed by a hind's blood dagger in Xena. So for the sake of the fic, the assumption is her arc in the show after that (most of it I haven't seen) did not take place.

Ranger Scrolls  
"New Enemy"

Bobby Lazzarini sat in the living room of the apartment that he shared with his closest friends. "Where are we going on vacation?" he asked as he looked around the group.

"I don't care, as long as it's somewhere warm." Winnie Barnes commented. She was not going to spend her vacation in some crazy frozen tundra. She wanted the sun, and preferably the beach.

"Some place where I can work on my tan." Lauren Fontaine added in, in complete agreement with Winnie.

"Since this is our first vacation as a group we should do something fun." Ashley Elliott pointed out as she grinned. "Like a cruise to the Bahamas."

Winnie simply rolled her eyes. A cruise sounded nice, but there was one major problem with that. "And where do you suppose we get the money for this cruise?"

"The money. Right." Ashley said with a frown. "I hadn't thought of that." She said as Lauren laughed. "Never mind then." Ashley finished.

"I don't care where we go," Christian Muller started as he put an arm around Winnie, "as long as I'm with you."

"Aw Christian, how sweet." Winnie said as she leaned in and gave him a kiss.

Suddenly the door burst open and Jackson Green came running into the room. "Guys, I've got it." He said as he approached. "We can go to Angel Grove, California."

"Angel Grove?" Laz questioned as he raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"My dad has a business acquaintance there," Jackson paused as he unsuccessfully tried to retrieve the name, "something Hillard. His daughter Katherine and her cousin," he paused again, unable to remember that name either, "would show us around, make sure we have everything we need."

Laz frowned. "I thought you said all the girls your dad knows are dogs."

"They are." Jackson replied as he grinned at his friend. "But think about it. They'll take us to the beach and we'll meet all sorts of hot California girls."

"I'm liking it." Laz said as his imagination began to run wild. "I'm in."

A smile spread across Christian's face, but ended abruptly when Winnie elbowed him. "What was that for?"

"You know good and well what that was for." Winnie snapped as she gave him a look. She knew what he was thinking about.

"Winnie you know I would never cheat on you." Christian assured her. He would be scared of her wrath if he were to cheat on her.

"I believe you." Winnie replied her evil look dissipating as she leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"I'll go to California." Lauren said with a smile. "I can work on my tan, and just think about all the cute beach boys I'll meet."

Ashley thought about it for a moment. "I think I'd like California."

"Then it's settled." Jackson replied with a smile. "I'll go call my dad and let him know. By this time Saturday, we'll be in sunny California."

* * *

The next Saturday the group from France had been walking for what felt like hours. "How much farther is it?" Winnie asked as she made a face. "Because if it's much farther, my feet are just going to stop."

"It can't be too far." Jackson said as he recalled his directions. "We just passed the school; it's supposedly close to that."

Winnie groaned as Laz turned toward Jackson. "So what's the name of this place?"

"They called it the Youth Center." Jackson said with a shrug. "I don't know, I think it's some sort of after school hang out."

"Like Café USA?" Lauren questioned, referencing the place she waitressed at that all of her friends hung out at.

"I don't know." Jackson replied. At this point, their guess was as good as his. "I guess so."

The group continued walking toward what they hoped was their destination. Finally they spotted a building off in the distance that appeared to be crawling with teens. "Is that it?" Laz asked as he squinted to get a good look at it.

"I hope so." Winnie said as she glanced briefly toward her aching feet.

Jackson led the group closer to the front of the building. "Let's take a look."

"Angel Grove Youth Center." Lauren read the sign on the door aloud. "This is the place."

Jackson moved to the front and pushed the door open, leading his group into the Youth Center. Laz was quick to come up and stand beside him as they surveyed the scene. Across the room, they saw two of the girls from the high school that was not what either boy would consider pretty.

Laz groaned when he looked at them. "That's probably them." He said.

Jackson nodded. "You're probably right." He said as he turned and caught a glimpse of the blonde-haired woman and the brunette sitting at a table. "But let's go ask them just to be sure." He said with a grin.

Laz glanced over toward the girls Jackson had spotted. "I'm with you buddy." He said with a huge grin as he and Jackson headed their way. They spent the few feet it took to get to the table checking the two girls out. The brunette had her hair loosely pinned back and was wearing a yellow tank top, jean shorts, and Rainbow flip flops. The blonde had her hair down and was wearing a light pink shirt and a white skirt and a nice pair of white sandals.

"Excuse me." Jackson said as he walked up to the girls and flashed them a winning smile. "Could you tell me where I might be able to find Katherine Hillard and her cousin?"

"I'm Katherine." The blonde said, much to Jackson and Laz's delight. "But please call me Kat. And this is my cousin Carri." As she finished, Carri smiled and gave them a slight wave.

"Woof woof." Laz said absentmindedly as he stared at the two girls. These two were not the dogs he was expecting.

"Excuse me?" Carri questioned. She thought it was a bad idea for them to play tour guide to son of a man that worked with her uncle and his friends. If this was how the trip was going to start, she knew it was about to go south quickly.

Jackson let out a slight laugh before hitting Laz. "Ignore my friend. He's not all there."

Kat glanced at Carri who simply rolled her eyes. With a sigh, Kat turned back to the boy that had approached them. "You must be Jackson Green."

"I am." Jackson replied as he turned toward the others. "And these are my friends, Laz, Winnie, Lauren, Christian and Ashley."

"Nice to meet you." Lauren said as the others echoed her sentiments.

Before anyone could say anything else, Emily approached the table. "Can I get you guys anything?" she asked. She headed their way the moment she noticed the huge group walk in.

Carri chuckled. "I see you've stopped staring long enough to come serve the customers." She joked. They had all been staring as their boys took the mat.

"Well I do need to do my job." Emily replied with a shrug before grinning at Carri. "Besides, Jase understands." Having the boys spar there was one of her favorite job benefits. However, as long as Ernie employed her work came first.

Laz watched the two girls grin at each other. Once it appeared as though they talking, Laz decided it was time to get some food. "Do you have any meat?"

Emily looked down at Carri oddly, and she simply shrugged. "We have hamburgers and hotdogs." She replied. Nobody asked if they had meat, they usually just asked what was on the menu. That was an odd way to put it.

"Ok good." Laz said as he thought about it for a moment. "Get me a soda. And… two burgers, one hotdog." He was debating getting two hotdogs but it was still early in the day and who knew what he was going to find in this town later.

Carri nearly choked on her drink as Kat and Emily both tried not to giggle. "Remind me never to say anything to Rocky again." She said.

"Are you making fun of me?" Laz questioned. He did not think he had ordered anything to odd.

Carri glanced toward Kat and Emily, and they all threw their hands up defensively. Emily grinned before moving on to the rest of the table. "Anybody else want anything?"

The rest of the group ordered, Jackson being the only other one who ordered more than just a drink. When they were finished, Emily walked away, and the group from France continued to stand around the table. Kat watched them stand there awkwardly for a second before she spoke. "Go ahead and have a seat."

Jackson was the first to move for a seat, grabbing a chair and wedging himself in between Kat and Carri. Laz took the seat on the other side of Kat, somewhat upset that he had not managed to sit in between the two, and the rest of the group filled in around the table. Jackson immediately put his arms on the shoulders of the two rangers, who simply rolled their eyes and looked away.

Lauren shook her head. "Don't mind him." She said. It was obvious that they were not interested, obvious to her anyway, but Jackson left his arms in place and started to flirt with them.

"So are you two ready for a week of fun?" Jackson asked. He watched as they responded with less enthusiasm than he would like. He would get them to notice him. "Just think, me, you, and you," he turned to look at both of them, "on the beaches of California."

Laz cleared his throat and glared at Jackson, who smiled in response. "You can come to, of course."

"That's right. I will be there. On the beach, with all the hot women." Laz said with a grin.

Winnie couldn't help but snicker. "And you think you'll find one who'll actually date you?"

"It will happen." Laz assured her. "You watch."

Winnie rolled her eyes as Jackson pulled the girls in toward him. "Back to our conversation. When shall we go to the beach?"

Carri was contemplating a range of answers, from simple words to physical action, none of which would end well for Jackson, when Rocky and Tommy approached the table with Adam and Jason not far behind. Both boys shot Jackson a look, and he ignored both of them. Tommy was trying not to be rude, but Rocky did not care as he leaned down and gave Carri a kiss.

To Jackson's credit, he removed his arm from the yellow ranger once he realized she had a boyfriend. Carri smirked. He was lucky Rocky interrupted. Scooting away from Jackson, she glanced up at her boyfriend and made a face. "Aren't you going to shower first?"

"What, no hellos?" Rocky questioned, mock pouting. "I come over here to see you and you go straight to commenting on my need for a shower." He continued.

"Sorry." Carri said as she rolled her eyes. "Hey Rocky. Now go take a shower." She said, grinning wickedly at him.

"We were heading that way. We just wanted to come meet your friends here." Rocky replied as he placed his hands on her shoulders. They really wanted to come over here first once they saw how cozy this new guy was getting with the girls. It was not as if they did not trust their girlfriends, but they wanted to make sure he knew they were off limits.

"Hey Kat." Tommy greeted, wondering how to get the message across to Jackson without physically mauling him. "What did you think?"

"Of your moves?" Kat questioned, thinking about her answer as Tommy nodded. "As good as ever sweetie."

Jackson removed his arm from Kat's shoulder and the rangers snickered. Kat had never called Tommy sweetie. Although it worked, in this case as the message was quickly received.

"Strike three." Lauren said as she grinned at Jackson, who by this point was looking rather down.

Before Jackson could say anything, Emily returned with their order, placing three plates in front of Laz. "You're going to eat all that!" Rocky exclaimed as he looked over the food selection. The other rangers looked over at him. It was odd to hear him say that.

"Yeah. I am." Laz replied as he glared at the newcomer. "You got a problem with that?"

"Not at all." Rocky replied as he grinned goofily. "And people say I eat too much."

"Now we've found someone who beats even you." Adam joked. Honestly, he never thought he would see someone that ate more than Rocky.

Emily smiled and turned to leave as Jason grabbed her. "Come on Jase, you know I'm working." Emily protested, although she had allowed Jason to pull her in.

"Just one kiss." Jason said as he leaned down and brought his lips to hers. Emily obliged and as the brief exchanged finished, Jason let her go and she grinned at him before leaving.

Ashley watched the duo with interest. She was somewhat disappointed that the cute guy was taken. She sighed as she realized she did not even know his name. "Excuse me." She said as the others glanced at her. "We don't know any of you nice people." She pointed out.

"Sorry." Kat apologized. Introductions were her responsibility. Quickly she went around the table, identifying the group from France before naming the remaining rangers.

Once everyone said their hellos, Carri looked up at her boyfriend and smiled. "Now don't you guys have somewhere to be?" she asked. Rocky made a face before leaning down and sneaking a kiss and taking off, the other male rangers in tow.

"We'll be back." Adam called out, as they were halfway to the locker room.

"I know what we can do while they're gone." Ashley said as the boys disappeared. The others looked at her curiously. "Introduce ourselves."

Carri shrugged. "Why not." She replied. It might be good information to know. "I was born in Australia but moved to Angel Grove when I was a baby because my dad's business was here. I lived here until my parents moved us to New York for three of my high school years before I was able to come back senior year. I love shopping, the beach, and baseball, the Astros are my boys and I can pitch."

Once Carri was finished, Jackson took that as his cue to go next. "I was born and raised in San Diego, and then I went to Paris for the academy. I love surfing; it's one of my favorite things to do next to dating."

Kat giggled and Carri rolled her eyes. Kat figured it was her turn next so she continued. "I was born in Australia and I basically grew up there. My dad got a new job and we moved to the States for my junior year in high school. I used to dive; I almost went to the Pan Globals. I also dance. Right now I'm teaching children's classes."

Laz realized he was next and he swallowed his food before speaking. "I'm from New York, and I was sent to Paris for the academy," he paused as he took another bite of his burger, "and I love meat." He said as pieces of food came flying out of his mouth.

"Laz!" Lauren exclaimed, making a face. "Disgusting!"

Carri raised her eyebrow and exchanged a glance with Kat. "Never again do we say anything to Rocky." Kat vowed. Carri chuckled while everyone tried to forget about Laz's moment as the introductions continued.

* * *

Zedd sat in his throne, deep in thought. "We have to find some way to get rid of those rangers."

"Well you know if we beat them that will get rid of them." Rito gave what he thought was a helpful comment.

"Silence!" Zedd yelled. The last thing he needed was that dolt's opinion.

"But it's true." Rito replied with a frown.

Rita ignored her brother as she turned toward her husband. "For years we've sent down monster after monster, but all of them have failed. We need a new plan."

Goldar reached for his sword and stepped forward. "I will go down there and ensure the destruction of the power rangers."

"If only I had a penny for every time you said that." Zedd said with a sigh as he shook his head.

"I am working on some new ideas for monsters that I believe would be quite sufficient in the destruction of the power rangers." Finster said as he stepped up and added his opinion.

"Perhaps I could help." Said a voice.

Everyone turned to see a woman standing there. She was tall, with long blond hair and wearing a leather outfit. "You?" Zedd questioned as he realized who she was. "I thought you were dead."

"Bad hind's blood." She said simply, offering no further explanation. It was a long time ago; she was not inclined to get into it. She strolled past Goldar and Rito and walked straight up to Zedd.

"Hey Goldie, look," Rito started, just as surprised as everyone else, "it's Callisto, warrior princess."

Callisto did not like his comment and she turned, lifting her hand up to fling Rito across the room. She let him hit the wall but held him there. "Warrior princess is reserved for Xena. I am the warrior queen. Understood?"

"Got it Calli." Rito replied. He was relieved as Callisto let him drop, but a second later a fireball was in her hand and flying toward him. He had to scramble to get out of the way.

"My name is Callisto." She hissed before turning back toward Zedd, who was amused with her attack against Rito.

Zedd looked her over curiously. "Where have you been the last few centuries?" He had heard of her tirade on Earth two thousand years ago. She was the first warrior to come from that planet that he had thought about putting in his army. After he heard the goddess was killed, he dropped the idea.

"Touring the galaxy." Callisto said with a shrug. "Keeping myself amused." She finished, tossing in a smile at the end.

Zedd thought this was odd. He could not imagine how she was running free this long in the galaxy and he did not know about it. Free and keeping herself away from this planet. She had to be back for a reason. "What brings you to Earth?"

"I heard from my dear friend Astronema about the power rangers." Callisto replied. She had an odd friendship with Astronema. The woman was pure evil and she liked that about her. She was one of the few people she could trust. Plus it gave her an in with Dark Specter, which allowed her to operate under his radar.

Rito walked up to the group, rubbing his neck. "Why would you care about the power rangers?"

"The two people in this world I want revenge on the most are dead." Callisto said sharply as she snapped her head in his direction. "Now their ancestors will have to pay for their mistakes."

"Hercules and Xena were your two greatest enemies." Goldar pointed out. That bit was common knowledge. "Who are their ancestors?"

"Your red and yellow zeo rangers." Callisto said with a snarl.

Rita looked at her in disbelief. "Tommy and Carri?" she questioned.

"Yes." Callisto said as a look of pure murder flashed in her eyes.

"What about Katherine?" Rita questioned. If Carri was related to one of Callisto's enemies, that would make the girl she once turned evil related to them as well.

"Katherine is related to me. The girls relationships are formed through maternal lineage." She gave a brief explanation to the rangers history. It was too bad Katherine was a ranger, she could make a good ally. However, she was aligned with her enemies, her fate would be the same as her friends. "Katherine's relationship is of no importance to me. I am here because of Tommy and Carri. And I want them dead."

"So then, what's the plan?" Rito questioned.

"The plan, which you'll have nothing to do with," Callisto paused to glare at Rito, whose incompetence was well known throughout the galaxy, "is to administer a love potion to the girls."

Zedd could not help the laughter that followed. "A love potion? What good do you think that will do?"

Callisto shot him a look. "The love part is nothing but a side effect. While they're trying to figure out how to cure the love potion, the real potion will take effect."

"Which is?" Rita questioned.

"It's designed to tear apart their bodies." Callisto said with a smile. "Once the initial stages run their course, they'll collapse as their bodies head for the final stages. It will end with their deaths."

"Brilliant." Zedd replied. He had been looking for a good plan, and here it was. There was only one problem. "Please tell me there's no antidote."

"Oh there is." Callisto replied. To her, this part was just as exciting as the other was. "There are only two ways to get it, from me personally or going into hell and back." She said as she let out a small laugh. "Many have tried, all have failed. And if any of the rangers stay behind, I'll simply kill them personally."

"So then all the rangers will be dead?" Goldar questioned. It was somewhat disappointing. He had wanted to rip Tommy to shreds with his bare hands.

Callisto nodded her head yes as Zedd laughed. "Brilliant! I can't wait to see the look on Zordon's face when his precious power punks are finally destroyed!" Zedd looked down at Callisto, who laughed before taking off as quickly as she had arrived.

* * *

A little while later, the boys returned from their showers. "We're back." Rocky announced as they approached the table.

Kat grinned as they all gathered around. She watched as Tommy's eyes caught hers and he grinned back before she turned toward the rest of the table. "Since you guys are our guests, what do you want to do?"

The pink ranger was greeted with six different answers. Carri put two fingers in her mouth and let out a piercing whistle. They silenced and she spoke. "There are six of us and six of you. Why don't we just split up and show you all what you want to see."

"Sounds like a plan." Jackson said as he leaned back and grinned at the two females.

"We'll number off and you guys just choose a number. Whoever you pick will take you where you want to go." Tommy said. He figured that would be the quickest way to decide.

"Sounds good." Lauren replied. She and the others waited for them to number off. But the Zeo team had no need, they were all fairly confident in what their numbers should be.

"Alright." Jackson said once it was obvious that they were not sharing their numbers aloud. "I'll take number two."

"That's me." Carri replied. She watched as Jackson grinned at her before rolling her eyes. She hoped she was not going to have to hit him.

"How about… four." Winnie said with a grin, watching as Adam raised his hand.

"Number five." Laz spoke quickly. He heard Tommy speak up and claim five, and then Laz crossed his arms and slouched. "Aw man, why can't I get the blonde?"

Laz totally missed the look Tommy gave him, which was probably a good thing. Before Tommy could speak, Ashley chose. "I'll take three."

"I'm three." Rocky replied. He was not sure if he liked this idea. His girlfriend was going to be spending this afternoon with the guy who was trying to hit on her. He trusted her, it was Jackson he worried about.

"I'll go with six." Lauren said as she glanced at the two remaining candidates.

"That's me." Jason said as he glanced over at Christian. "That leaves you with Kat." He said, nodding in Kat's direction.

"Let's head out then." Carri said. She was the first to stand, pausing briefly to kiss her boyfriend before heading out toward the door. Jackson quickly followed her, and the others trickled out behind them.

* * *

Carri and Jackson found themselves walking along the shoreline. Carri was pleased that this was the spot he wanted to check out. The beach was one of her favorite places to go.

She noticed Jackson looking out over the water. He caught her looking at him and he grinned at her briefly before speaking. "The beaches of California," Jackson said as he took a deep breath in, "it's been too long since I've been out here."

Carri silently agreed with Jackson's unspoken statement. She knew what it was like to go to school elsewhere and miss your California hometown and the beaches associated with it. It was always good to be back.

"You're the one who's a surfer right?" she asked.

"That's me." Jackson replied with a grin. "I need to try to bring my board out here before we head home."

"Maybe we can head out there before you leave." Carri commented. It had been a while since she had gone surfing. Most of the time when she came to the beach she either hung out with the other rangers or tanned.

Jackson glanced over at her. "Do you surf?"

Carri could not help but snort. "I've been living by the beach practically my entire life. What do you think?"

"Looks like we have something in common." Jackson said, as he looked her over. The thought of her out there surfing was kind of sexy. "That's the basis of a good relationship."

Carri rolled her eyes. She was not sure if he was ever going to get the hint. "Let me just call Rocky and see if he's cool with me having a boyfriend on the side."

"I meant relationship as in friendship." Jackson lied. He would love for it to be more than that, but she obviously was not leaving her boyfriend any time soon. "I'm sorry that you took it the wrong way."

"Ha." Carri replied as she glanced over and made eye contact with Jackson, who did his best to look innocent. She simply shook her head and continued. "Well since you're obviously looking for a vacation hook up, take your pick." She said as she gestured to the assortment of girls out on the beach.

"I get to pick?" Jackson question as he checked out his options. "Let's see here, I want," Jackson was prepared to point to a blonde girl laying on a beach towel. Before he had the chance, an invisible Callisto appeared in front of them and sprayed them both with her potion. As the potion set in, Jackson turned toward Carri. "You."

"Good answer." She replied as she threw her arms around him and planted her lips on his.

* * *

Kat and Christian were walking through the park. Christian had been interested in the local basketball courts. He was hoping to find someone to shoot hoops with.

The duo was in the middle of a discussion on the sport when the courts came into view. "I'm a good basketball player." Christian said.

"I can shoot and dribble." Kat replied with a frown. She loved playing with her friends but it was not her thing. "That's about it."

"At least you have some skill." Christian replied with a smile.

Kat chuckled. "Just some."

Christian glanced at her. He was here with one of the residents of Angel Grove. There was a question he just had to ask. "You know what I really want to know about?" he said, watching as Kat cocked her head slightly and looked at him curiously. "The power rangers." He finished.

He noticed Kat chuckle and he continued. "It may seem silly, but ever since I saw a story on them I've wanted to follow them."

"It's not silly at all. Most of Angel Grove is fascinated by the power rangers." Kat replied sincerely. The chuckle had nothing to do with the fact that he was interested in the power rangers and everything to do with the fact that he had just met the entire team and had no clue.

"My favorite is the pink ranger." Christian admitted. He supposed it should be red, all the guys wanted to be the red ranger. However, there was something cute and mysterious about the female pink ranger.

Kat blushed but turned quickly so that he could not see her. If only he knew. She turned back toward him and continued. "Mine is the red ranger." She said.

Christian nodded. He supposed all the girls would love the red ranger. "So what do you know about the power rangers?"

"Currently there are five of them, pink, yellow, blue, green and red." Kat started, wondering what she should tell him. "Nobody knows where they come from, but we do know they're here whenever Angel Grove needs them."

"I would love to meet the power rangers." Christian said wishfully. "Especially the pink one."

Callisto appeared in front of the duo, invisible, and sprayed them with the potion. Kat got an odd feeling when she appeared but she never got to follow it through as the potion kicked in. She leaned into Christian and whispered into his ear. "Guess what." She said seductively. "I'm the pink ranger."

"No you're not." Christian said with a grin. "But if you're saying that to get me, it worked." He said, putting an arm around her and leading her off.

* * *

Callisto reappeared in the Lunar Palace and immediately went to sit in Zedd's throne. Zedd declined to say anything. Besides the fact that she was destroying the rangers, she was a goddess and he did not want to piss her off.

"What happens next?" Goldar questioned. He wanted the opportunity to battle the red ranger.

"Now we wait." Callisto replied with a smile.

"Aw! I don't want to wait!" Rito whined.

Callisto snapped her head in his direction, debating whether or not she should let him live. "Do you dare question my methods?"

The look the goddess gave him sent Rito running. "Ed, save me." He said as he hid behind his brother-in-law.

Zedd pushed Rito out from behind him. The last thing on his agenda was saving Rito. "How long before the potion takes effect?"

"By tomorrow afternoon, their systems will be completely shut down." Callisto said as a sly smile crossed her face. "They'll be dying and their friends will be close behind them."

"What if they don't go for the cure?" Rita questioned. She was not sure if Callisto was giving those power punks the proper amount of credit. If they were that predictable, they would have defeated them long ago.

Callisto laughed aloud. "An ancestor of Hercules not tries to save someone?" she asked as though it was the most absurd thing she had ever heard.

Zedd could not help but let out a little laugh of his own. "By this time tomorrow, the world will be ours!"

* * *

Later that evening all the teens returned to the Youth Center, however they did not return quite as they left. Carri and Jackson, as well as Kat and Christian came in holding hands. Rocky did not even notice as he walked up and grabbed Carri's arm. "Let's go." He said with a grin. They were heading out that night.

Carri glared at him and immediately pulled herself out of his grasp. "Don't touch me." She snapped.

Rocky looked at her wide-eyed. Sure if he had done something wrong, she would get mad at him. However, he had not done anything. This was odd behavior, even for her.

Carri ignored the hurt look on Rocky's face. "Now if you'll excuse us, Jackson and I have a date to go on." It was crap for them to go back to the Youth Center to begin with. She turned and headed for the door, Jackson in tow.

"Homerun." Jackson whispered to Lauren as he passed her on the way out.

"Well what do you know." Winnie said with a frown. "Not everybody has as good a relationship as me and Christian." She said as she went to take her boyfriend's arm.

Kat put her hand on Winnie's chest and gave her a little shove back. "Don't touch my man." She warned her.

"You're man?" Winnie questioned, eyeing her down. "Honey I think you're confused."

"I'm not the one who's confused." Kat assured her. She and Christian is an item, Winnie was going to have to get over it.

"Please." Winnie said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I suggest you stay away from my man or else." She threatened.

"Your man?" Christian repeated as he rolled his eyes. "I don't remember saying I'd be your man." The only woman for him was the blonde Aussie he was with. "Come on Kat, let's go." Christian said as he led her out.

As Kat and Christian took off, Winnie burst into tears and ran out of the Youth Center. Lauren frowned as she left. "We need to go comfort her."

"Yes." Ashley agreed as she glanced over at the ranger boys. "She was madly in love with Christian." Ashley frowned as she looked toward Lauren. Both girls swiftly headed for the Youth Center's exit, Laz following behind them.

Jason sighed. This had evil plot written all over it. "Let's see what's wrong with this picture."

"They were fine when they left the Youth Center." Rocky pointed out. Fine in the sense that they were all with the people they were supposed to be with.

"The returned madly in love with guys not their boyfriends like it was no big deal." Tommy finished with a frown. He really wanted to deck Christian, but he had a good feeling it was not his fault.

The four boys all turned to look at each other. "Zedd." They said practically simultaneously. Moving swiftly, they went to find a place to teleport.

* * *

The boys surprised Alpha as they teleported into the Power Chamber. "Aye ai ai!" Alpha exclaimed, worried by the rangers sudden appearance. "Is something wrong?"

"We think there is." Tommy replied with a frown. "Scan the girls."

Alpha headed over to one of the consoles and hit a few buttons. A few seconds later the scan was complete. The little robot let out what could be considered a sigh. "They've been hit with a love potion."

"Seriously?" Rocky questioned. He did not know what Rita and Zedd were thinking, or why they thought they would not figure it out. "Will they ever learn?"

"Can you create an antidote?" Adam questioned. He agreed that the love potion was somewhat silly. However, they needed the girls back to normal before Rita and Zedd attacked.

Alpha nodded. "By this time tomorrow I should have them back to normal." He assured them. From the scan the potion seemed fairly simply, an antidote should be easy.

"Thanks Alpha." Tommy said. Then he and the others teleported out, completely unaware of the danger their friends were really in.

* * *

Later that night, the ranger boys found themselves sitting around the kitchen table at Tommy's house playing monopoly. Rocky sighed as he picked up a card. "I hate waiting." He said as he flipped the card over and read it. "And now I get to wait in jail."

Adam watched Rocky toss his peace across the board. "Have fun." He said as he picked up the dice.

"By tomorrow evening everything will be good." Tommy replied. "Again." He could not help but add. They would foil another one of their evil plans. Then he could go out with his girlfriend to make up for the date they were missing out on tonight.

"I can't believe they thought we'd fall for a love potion." Jason said as he watched Adam land on his property. "You owe me two hundred dollars." He said before going back to the topic at hand. "Have they ever heard the phrase been there done that?" The former gold ranger looked at the money Adam placed in his hand. "You're a hundred dollars short."

Adam reluctantly handed over another bill. "I'm close to broke." He grumbled, sighing before going back to the topic at hand. "And this is Rita and Zedd we're talking about. They never learn."

"They've had a few good ideas over the years." Tommy pointed out. As much as he hated to think about his tenure as an evil ranger, he had to admit that it was smart on Rita's part to choose him to be her green ranger.

"Maybe." Jason agreed. "But they've still always failed." He pointed out.

"They came close to winning when Master Vile came to town." Adam reminded them. During his tenure as a ranger, that period was the only time when he really worried that they would not make it.

"True." Rocky said as Tommy landed on the go to jail square. He watched as Tommy stuck his piece in jail along with Rocky's. "Hello Tommy. Welcome to jail."

"This is getting boring." Tommy said with a frown. He was still upset that his original plans for the night had been ruined.

Jason could not help the roaring laugh that escaped his lips. "Now that you're in jail, the game's no fun."

"That's not why." Tommy protested. He was not going to get into the fact that his mind was on Kat with Jason.

"Fine. We'll quit." Jason said as he stood up. "I have a date to get to anyway."

Rocky sighed. "I want to have a date." He said as he thought about his girlfriend. Who, now, was most likely on a date with another guy, and he couldn't get angry about it. Part of the strange life of a power ranger.

"Me too." Tommy chimed in. He hated thinking of Kat out with Christian instead of out with him. He knew there was nothing he could do about it now, but that did not mean he was going to like it.

"Me three." Adam added. He watched as the red and blue rangers shot him a look. "What? I can't have a date either. My girlfriend is on the other side of the country."

"Yes but if Tanya was here you two could go out." Tommy pointed out. It was not the same thing as his and Rocky's current dilemma. "Our girlfriends are under spells and out with other guys."

"Sucks for you guys." Jason said with a grin as he looked at the table of disappointed male rangers. He was going to enjoy his evening out with Emily tonight. "I'll be thinking about you while I'm on my date." Jason said emphasis on the word date. "Then again, I probably won't. I'll be too busy focusing on my girlfriend, who my date is with."

"Get out." Tommy said a slight hint of anger in his voice. Jason glared at his best friend, who eventually cracked a smile, before Jason laughed and headed out the front door.

Rocky sighed. "You guys want to go see a movie?" he questioned. He was ready to do anything to take his mind off the fact that his girlfriend was out with someone else, even if it was spell related.

"Sure." Adam replied. He did not have anything better to do.

Tommy nodded in agreement as well. "Let's get this game cleaned up and then we'll go." He said standing and picking pieces up. The others jumped into help and it was not long before they were heading out the door.

* * *

Winnie sat on the couch of their luxury hotel room, crying. "I should have known better than to let him leave the room with that tall blonde." She said in between tears. She always thought she could trust Christian, but that simply was not the case.

"It will be ok Winnie." Lauren tried to comfort her as she rubbed her hand on her back.

Ashley smiled at Winnie. "I'm sure he was thinking of you while he was on his date with Katherine." She said, thinking that her words would make Winnie feel better.

Winnie cried even louder. "But he's not supposed to be on a date with her, he's supposed to be with me!"

Laz entered the room, a turkey sub in one hand, "You know," he said, pausing to take a bit bite of the sandwich, "something's not right here." He said as he chewed. Once he swallowed, he continued. "Everybody but Jackson was perfectly happy in their own relationships. Now all of the sudden they come back and they're dating each other?"

"You know, for once Laz is right." Lauren said as she thought it over. "They showed no interest in each other before they left. Kat and Carri were really happy with their boyfriends, you could tell when Jackson tried to hit on them. It doesn't make sense."

"Something fishy is definitely going on here." Ashley said, tilting her head down and lowering her eyebrows. "I think its aliens."

Lauren could not help but laugh. "Aliens?" she repeated.

Ashley frowned and crossed her arms. "Laugh all you want to. But you wait and see."

"Yes, little green men are running around Angel Grove ruining people's relationships." Lauren said sarcastically. Although the sad thing was, that made as much sense to Lauren as the four of them simply hooking up with each other.

Ashley stood up. "Fine. Don't believe me. But when you get picked up by their space ship, then I'll be the one laughing." She said before turning and heading off toward the girls adjourning bedroom.

As Ashley exited, the door opened and Jackson walked in, a huge grin on his face. "Laruen you've got nothing compared to Carri. Why I ever went after you is beyond me."

"What happened?" Laz questioned, turkey sandwich temporarily ignored as he waited to hear the details.

Jackson threw an arm around his friend. "There is much to tell." He said as he led him off, leaving the girls alone.

Lauren sunk into the couch. "Aliens would explain everything." She said with a sigh. She did not know how she felt about Jackson. He had pursued her for a long time and they had dated some, but it had not worked. Even though they were not together, to hear him say that made her feel bad.

Winnie, whose tears had finally stopped with the start of the alien conversation, started crying again. "Why did my Christian do this to me? I don't." She stopped short as the door opened.

"Hello." Christian greeted as he entered the room. "I haven't been in this good a mood in a long time. Who needs bossy women when you can have a blonde goddess?" He watched as Winnie stood and fled the room. "What's wrong with her?"

"What nerve!" Lauren exclaimed as she jumped up and followed Winnie out.

Christian simply shrugged in response before heading off to find the guys.

* * *

Jason, along with the three male Zeo rangers, headed to the Youth Center the next day where they found the three girls from Paris along with Laz there already. It was obvious that Winnie had been crying all night, she was a mess.

"I feel so bad for them. They have no idea what's going on." Adam whispered. It was hard to see the other teens this upset. Hopefully all would be back to normal soon.

Lauren watched as the four guys took a seat. She frowned, as they all seemed in relatively good moods, even Tommy and Rocky. "You guys seem awfully happy considering your girlfriends ran off with other guys." She commented.

"Today's a new day." Tommy spoke quickly. They had nothing to be upset about; Alpha was going to fix this mess. However, he could not explain that to them. "Anything could happen." He added.

"Nothing is important unless my Christian comes back to me." Winnie said, trying hard not to start crying again.

Ashley looked around suspiciously, as she leaned in across the table. "I know why they're all cheating on each other." She whispered as the boys looked at her curiously. "It's aliens."

The ranger boys looked at each other in shock, unsure of what she knew. Ashley noted their surprise and continued. "I suspect its little green men here to destroy the world."

Jason was the first of the group to laugh, and the others were not far behind. It was actually a good guess, one that probably be made by most of the residents of Angel Grove, but it was obvious that Ashley had no clue as to what the bigger picture was.

Lauren smiled at them. "That was my reaction too."

"Alright, fine." Ashley said as she leaned back into her seat. "Nobody has to listen to me."

As she finished speaking, Emily came by and set a plate of food down in front of Laz. Jason looked over at his girlfriend and grinned. "Can I get a minute of your time?" he asked.

"You can." Emily replied as she pulled a chair up beside him. She had seen him come in, and she knew once she filled Laz's order she could have a few minutes to sit down.

"Good." Jason said as he leaned over and gave Emily a kiss.

"You make me sick." Winnie said as she glared at Jason and Emily. "All couples make me sick."

"Winnie!" Lauren exclaimed. She knew her friend was heartbroken, but that was no reason to take it out on them. "You know you don't mean that."

"It's alright. Jason told me what happened. I'm sorry." Emily said as she turned toward Tommy and Rocky. What happened yesterday made about as much sense as, well, half the things that happened in Angel Grove. It was really hard to say for sure what was going on. "Would you like me to talk some sense into your girlfriends?"

"Thanks for the offer but I think we'll be fine." Rocky replied as Tommy nodded his head in agreement.

"Alright, but if you want someone to talk to them, I'm here." Emily assured them as a chirping sound came from the three boys.

"What was that?" Lauren asked. It was a really odd sound that seemed to be coming from Adam, Rocky and Tommy.

"Our pager. It must be our baseball coach." Rocky said the first thing that came to his mind. They really did not have time to think of something good, they had to answer their communicators. Hopefully it was Alpha with good news.

"We'll be right back." Tommy assured them as the three rangers hopped up and took off.

"It takes three people to answer one page?" Lauren questioned. It was odd to say the least.

"If it's their coach it does." Jason replied. This was one of the only instances he was glad he was not a ranger. He was able to help cover for his friends. They could hear the monster alarm going off in the distance and Jason turned to see three streaks of light flying through the air from the Youth Center.

"Should we be concerned with the alarm?" Ashley questioned. As far as she knew, alarms like that only warned of impending disaster.

"It doesn't sound like its city wide." Emily pointed out as she glanced at the television. Usually if one side of town was getting attacked, the alarms would only go off on that side of town unless it became apparent that the attack was going to spread out. Sure enough, the news images were coming up from several miles away. "It looks like we'll be fine."

"Is this normal?" Laz asked as he glanced at the news footage of the current monster battle.

"It has been the norm around here the last few years." Jason replied as he thought about how he wished he was out there with them. "There are always monster attacks around the city. At least this one isn't at the Youth Center."

Lauren threw her hands up. "Great." She said. She should have paid more attention to the stuff that was being said about Angel Grove. "Well we are sure having a blast on this vacation. Whose idea was it to come here anyway?"

"Mine." Jackson said proudly as he approached the table from the other side of the room, along with Kat, Carri and Christian. The four of them had been on a double date.

"Look who's here." Emily said as she rolled her eyes.

Carri rolled her eyes back in response. "Well someone doesn't sound too excited to see us."

"Boy she's quick." Lauren snapped as she eyed Jackson down. "Where did you find such a smart one?"

Jackson simply shook his head, not getting a chance to respond as Winnie spoke. "Hello Christian." She said, trying not to cry. It was hard to hold the tears in, seeing him there with Kat.

"Oh, it's you." Christian said with a sigh. "Hello."

Kat put her arm around Christian and looked up at him. "I'm not feeling too welcome here."

"Gee I wonder why." Laz replied, not trying to hide the sarcasm.

"Let's get out of here." Jackson said, turning Carri around and leading her toward the door, the others following. About halfway there, he and Carri stopped suddenly.

"I feel so light." Carri's words stopped abruptly as she lost consciousness, her knees buckling underneath her as she fell to the floor. Jackson was not far behind her.

"What's wrong with them?" Kat questioned, looking her cousin over. She did not have time to worry about them though as seconds later, she and Christian joined them on the floor.

"What the hell?" Jason questioned as he sprung out of his chair and ran toward them. "What's happening?"

Emily got up and followed her boyfriend to check on the others. No matter what they had done, they did not deserve this. "What's going on?"

"I… I don't know." Jason replied as the group from Paris joined them. This was only a love spell; it could not be causing this kind of reaction. Something was seriously wrong.

Ernie rushed over toward the group. "I've got an ambulance on the way." He said. Although he could not be certain this wasn't ranger related. Just in case, he had called nine one one.

"There's no need for an ambulance." Tommy's morphed and altered voice came through his helmet as he and the others teleported in. "We have reason to believe that Lord Zedd is responsible for what has happened to your friends."

"Who's Lord Zedd?" Ashley questioned as she glanced at the three morphed rangers.

"An alien out for world conquest." Rocky replied. He had chosen his words carefully; he wanted Ashley to feel somewhat validated. After all the crap they went through, it was the least they could do.

"An alien!" Ashley exclaimed, quite excited. "I knew it!"

"We need to take the bodies to our base so we can create an antidote." Adam said as he and the other rangers surrounded the four fallen teenagers.

Ernie nodded as Tommy lifted his communicator to his mouth. "We're ready." Seconds later, streaks of multicolored light flew out of the Youth Center. Only Ernie and Jason noticed that the unconscious girls' teleportation streaks were pink and yellow while the boys were white. Everyone else was too focused on whether or not their friends would be saved.

The three morphed rangers' teleported into the Power Chamber. The boys powered down as Alpha started running tests on the others. "Alpha what happened?" Rocky immediately questioned the little robot.

Alpha was silent as the results of his scans came back. "Aye ai ai! It looks like we have a serious problem."

"From the love spell?" Adam questioned as Jason teleported in.

"The spell was initially meant to be read as a love spell." Alpha said as he ran the data into the computers, hoping for some sort of solution. "The real danger of the potion is in its secondary effects. It is tearing their bodies apart."

"Which means?" Tommy questioned. He had a good idea, but he wanted to hear Alpha confirm it.

"They're dying rangers." Alpha replied, a hint of sadness in his voice.

Rocky immediately noticed Alpha's tone and he did not like it. "Can't we cure them?"

"Rangers, I am afraid the spell they have been placed under is more serious than anything we've ever seen." Zordon informed them. "I have only heard of this spell. It is said that there is only one person in the universe that knows how to reverse it." If what he had heard was correct, this one person wouldn't be interested in helping them.

The alarms triggered and a voice spoke. "And that's me." Callisto said, her appearance in the Power Chamber surprising Zordon.

"Intruder alert!" Alpha exclaimed as he went to stop the alarms from wailing.

"Who are you?" Jason asked as the alarms quieted and the room grew silent.

"I am Callisto, warrior goddess. That sounds so much better than warrior queen does. And I can certainly do the job much better than Aries. He did get what he deserved, along with those other fools on Olympus." Callisto commented as she walked over to the medical tables. She glanced briefly down at Carri. "And now you are getting what you deserve."

"Why are you here?" Tommy spoke with authority, causing the goddess's head to snap in his direction.

Callisto grinned, her eyes brightening and her laugh suggesting she was well past crazy. She moved a bit closer toward the rangers as she spoke. "That's simple. I'm going to give you a chance to save them."

"You can save them, which means you did this to them." Rocky pointed out. He did not know that they could trust her. He did not know that he would trust her; he wanted nothing more than to rip her apart.

"Yes and I'm very proud of myself." Callisto replied. This plan was going better than expected.

"Then why do you want to help us?" Adam asked.

"Help you?" Callisto questioned, letting out another one of her crazy laughs. "Don't be mistaken ranger; I want to kill you all. And sending you for the antidote is the quickest way to do it."

The four rangers huddled together. Tommy looked at them. "Let's do it." He said simply as Rocky nodded in agreement. He did not care how dangerous it was, it was the only way to save them.

"I'll stay back." Adam volunteered. Someone was going to have to stay close to Earth in case Rita and Zedd attacked. And if the unthinkable happened, they needed at least one ranger left alive.

The rangers turned to face Callisto. "Where do we go?" Tommy asked as he and Rocky stepped forward.

"I was hoping you'd ask that." Callisto replied, quite satisfied with their decision. She lifted her hand up and threw it forward, using her powers to open a portal.

"May the power protect you." Zordon said as his two rangers jumped through the portal and into the unknown. As the portal closed, Callisto disappeared.

"I hope they hurry." Alpha said as he headed to the console. He was going to have to program their defenses to keep the goddess out. She had gotten in easily because they never had a specific need to keep a goddess out; most of the Olympian gods were obsolete. Zordon was a minimalist, never wanting to set up the security system for more than what was necessary.

"Why?" Jason questioned, following the robot. He knew the obvious reasons. His friends were dying. However, Alpha made it sound worse than what he thought it was.

Alpha glanced up toward them. "Their bodies are working toward a complete shutdown faster every minute. If they do not return soon, we will lose them."

* * *

Rocky and Tommy landed on the ground with a thud. "We have to hurry." Rocky said as they stood. The others lives were in danger.

"Right." Tommy agreed as they walked up toward a metal gate.

Rocky glanced up and noticed the sign above the gate. "Abandon all hope ye who enter here." He read aloud.

Tommy sighed. "Great. My kind of place." He said sarcastically. He noticed Rocky looking around and he made a face. "What are you looking for?" He questioned. He thought maybe that the blue ranger was searching for a key.

"I was kind of hoping Virgil would show." Rocky joked, referencing the epic poem they had read in English class last year.

Tommy chuckled. "I'm afraid we'll have to do this on our own."

As he spoke, the gates swung open. Rocky and Tommy looked at each other, both giving the other a slight nod. They were as ready as they were going to be. They walked through the gates, continuing forward to their quest for the antidote as the gates slammed shut behind them.

* * *

"It won't be long now." Callisto promised as she materialized in the Lunar Palace.

"As soon as the last of the rangers are gone, Earth will be ours for the taking." Zedd said triumphantly. Finally, all their work was going to pay off.

"Hey Ed," Rito said, ignoring the ugly look Zedd was giving him, "let me lead the tengas in the takeover."

Zedd elected not to yell at him. This was going to be their greatest victory ever; he was not going to let his idiot brother-in-law spoil his mood. "There will be no need for a takeover." Zedd replied. "Without the power rangers, there will be no one to stop us. You can lead the tengas as they carry us down the streets of Angel Grove."

"Aw, ok." Rito said, looking somewhat dejected. He brightened up as another thought occurred to him. "Hey Ed, can I have the boot country? I've always liked its shape."

Zedd could not help but laugh. "You couldn't run a lemonade stand, much less an entire country." Although it would be amusing to watch him fail.

"The first thing I want to do is visit England." Rita spoke up, putting an end to the conversation between Rito and Zedd. "The royal jewels would look fabulous on me."

"I want to terrorize citizens." Goldar chimed in. He was somewhat excited. They were finally getting Earth. There was some disappointment there. He had wanted to have a hand in the destruction of the rangers. However, Jason was no longer a ranger perhaps that could be the first citizen he attacked.

"Soon we will all get what we want." Zedd assured them. All except Rito, but he was another story entirely. "What about you Callisto, what do you want?"

"Tommy and Carri dead." She said simply. That was the entire reason she returned to this wretched planet. She would have been happy never returning, most of her memories of this place were nothing she wanted to relive. However she had unfinished business.

"And after that?" Zedd questioned. There had to be more than she wanted. He could not imagine that after avoiding the planet this long, she would come back for just Tommy and Carri.

Callisto shrugged as she created a small flame on her fingers. She allowed the flame to grow as she stared at it. "I've always been fascinated by fire. With one simple spark you can burn down an entire city. But I've never been one for starting with sparks; I always have to start with a big show."

"Burning down a city?" Rito questioned. "Sounds like fun."

"I never said I was going to be burning down any cities." Callisto replied as she continued to stare at the flame. "Then again, it might be fun." She finished as she allowed the flame to burn out.

Zedd stared at the goddess. The rumors that Callisto was a bit off center were not exaggerated. He was a bit agitated that she never really answered his question. Then again, he supposed it did not matter. They would all get what they wanted soon enough. The rangers would be dead and the world would be theirs.

* * *

Rocky and Tommy walked into a cave, the center of which was a giant lava pit. Both sides had a path, and both paths looked to be about even. "Which way?" Rocky questioned.

Tommy looked back and forth. It really was a tossup. "Left." He finally decided.

"Left it is then." Rocky said as he headed out ahead of Tommy. He barely got out onto the path when the lava in the pit started moving. The lava started taking shape and seconds later, there were lava creatures blocking their way.

"It's morphin time!" Tommy quickly yelled as he and Rocky thrusts their hands to their sides. Much to their surprise, nothing happened.

"Our powers must not work in here." Rocky pointed out. That was a disappointment; they needed them right about now.

"Guess we're going to have to do this the old fashioned way." Tommy replied as he and Rocky ran full force toward the lava creatures.

They quickly discovered that these were a more difficult foe than anything they were used to dealing with, or at least anything that they had tried to fight without powers. Rocky ducked a punch from one of them. "Missed me." He said, kicking it and waiting for it to fly back into its friends. Instead of flying back, it stood there, not budging at all.

Tommy punched one of them, and his results were the same as Rocky's. "This doesn't look good." He pointed out.

The lava creatures pushed the two male rangers backwards. They had to work hard to stay on the path and not fall into the pit. Once they were securely on the ground and at a safe distance from the creatures, they turned toward each other. "We need a new plan." Rocky pointed out.

Tommy nodded in agreement. "Got any ideas?" he asked. Now, Tommy could not think of one.

"What if we knock them back into the lava?" Rocky suggested. He knew when he spoke the words that it would be easier said than done.

"That might work." Tommy replied as he thought it over. "We're not moving them though; we're going to have to come up with a way to get them back in."

"We'll have to think on that." Rocky replied as the lava creatures moved into attack. Both boys worked on a series of blocks and punches, although neither of them were getting anywhere. They knew that at this rate, they were going to lose. Changing tactics, they decided to run while they worked on a plan.

After changing direction for what felt like the thousandth time, Rocky noticed something. The lava creatures followed them around like trained dogs. He turned to Tommy and grinned. "You feeling adventurous?" he questioned. He watched as Tommy raised an eyebrow and he continued. "Follow me."

Rocky headed to the ledge and jumped down into the pit, making sure to stay in close enough to the wall that he could quickly grab the jagged edge. Tommy looked on in disbelief. He did not think this was a good idea. However, they were out of sane ideas, and against his better judgment, he followed him.

It was no surprise to the blue ranger when the lava creatures followed them. Only the creatures did not try to hang on to the wall, they simply tumbled back into the lava below. The rangers watched as the lava swallowed them up.

"Now what?" Tommy questioned as he glanced toward Rocky.

"You any good at rock climbing?" Rocky questioned. Tommy chuckled in response as both boys started to pull themselves back to the top.

It did not take long before they were back on the path. They followed it to the end without any more trouble. The exit to the lava pit led into a damper, darker portion of the cave. "This looks fairly safe." Rocky commented as they stepped in.

As they broke the threshold, they triggered the cave's defense system. Suddenly all sorts of sharp objects started flying back and forth. Tommy groaned. "You just had to say something didn't you." He said, glancing over at Rocky who sighed in response. Now they had to figure out a way to make it through the treacherous cave.

* * *

Up on the moon, a spying goddess was furious. Callisto slammed her fist down on the armrest of Zedd's throne. "Nobody has ever made it past the lava patrol before." She hissed.

"But you've never sent a couple of rangers in there before, have you Calli?" Rito questioned. He thought his point would make the goddess feel better; instead, he just pissed her off.

Callisto lifted her hand and threw Rito against the wall. Goldar snickered. Besides the fact that it did not matter that they were rangers, nobody called her Calli. "No matter." She said, trying to refocus herself. "Even if they do manage to make it to the antidote, I have a surprise for them."

"And that would be?" Zedd prompted as he glanced over at the goddess.

Callisto shot him a look. "If I told you, it would no longer be a surprise now would it?"

Rito stood and looked around. "That hurt." He complained. He did not like the fact that she had the ability to toss him around like that without moving a muscle.

"Stop whining." Callisto said, quickly glaring at him as a fireball appeared in her hand.

Rito stood straight up at the sight of the fire. "Got it. No more whining." He said, watching as the fireball extinguished.

"I love the power you have over him." Zedd said. He wished Rito would listen to him like that. Instead, his brother-in-law ignored everything he told him.

"If you were the ultimate goddess, you would possess that kind of power too." Callisto said simply. It was easy. She could make anyone bow down to her.

"As soon as the rangers are out of the way, I will have that power over all the earthlings." Zedd commented as he turned and continued to watch the rangers' quest.

The group from Paris was sitting around a table in the Youth Center, dazed and confused. "Is this normal for Angel Grove?" Laz questioned.

Emily shrugged. "You never know what's going to happen when you've got aliens trying to take over the world constantly." She replied. This seemed to have been the norm since she had been here.

"So where did your friends run off to?" Lauren questioned. She thought it was weird that the guys took off and she felt bad that they didn't get to see the rangers and know what happened.

"Who knows." Emily said with a sigh. Running off had been the group theme ever since she knew them. "They always seem to be running off somewhere." She added.

"Do you think Christian will be ok?" Winnie asked. If it was an alien that caused this, then maybe he did not really leave her, maybe he is still her Christian.

"What is this, twenty questions?" Emily snapped, immediately feeling guilty. She understood that they were not from here, that they had never had to deal with this sort of thing. However, she was worried too, and their questions were not helping the situation. She let out a sigh before answering the question. "If he's in the hands of the power rangers, he'll be fine."

Ernie made his way toward the table. He knew they were all upset. He understood, he had been there since the beginning; he had seen a lot of bad things happen to good people. He also knew the power rangers, knew that they were really good at making things right again. "Every time we turn around something new and not necessarily good happens. That has been part of living in Angel Grove for almost four years. But I wouldn't worry about it, the power rangers haven't let us down yet."

Emily looked up at Ernie and nodded her head in agreement. She had not lived there nearly as long as he had, but she definitely agreed with his statement.

"Come on," Ernie said, placing a hand on Emily's shoulder, "let's keep things running here." He knew Carri and Kat were her friends, but he had to try to keep some sort of sense of normalcy in the Youth Center.

"You're right." Emily agreed as she stood. She waved a quick goodbye to the others before following Ernie off.

Ashley watched them go before turning toward the others and smiling. "I can't believe that I was right about the aliens." What had happened was horrible, but still, she was right.

Lauren could not help but laugh. "Yes Ashley, you were right."

"Now it's my turn to be right." Laz pointed out.

Winnie and Lauren exchanged glances. "It will never happen." Winnie assured him.

Laz made a frustrated sound before standing. "Come on guys, let's get out of here."

Ashley glanced up at him curiously. "And where exactly will we be going?" They did not know Angel Grove that well; she did not want to venture too far away.

"For a walk." Laz replied. "It's too depressing here." He added. Sitting around this table, they were going to do nothing but mope and focus on the fact that something happened to their friends that they could not control.

"I agree." Lauren said as she stood and grabbed Winnie, pulling her friend up with her.

"Oh alright." Ashley gave in, standing as well. Seconds later the group from Paris headed out the front door.

* * *

After quite a bit of work, Tommy and Rocky made it safely through the cave and into a room that was made of ice. "Oh man." Tommy commented as he glanced down at the icy floor.

"We can do this." Rocky said with more confidence than he felt. They had to do it they had no choice. Besides, it seemed like it would be ok. "The ice looks stable enough."

"We have to do this." Tommy said as he looked across the sheet of ice and noticed the room on the other side. Once they made it across the ice, the only thing standing in their way was the bars of a gate. Beyond that, he could see the pillar that the antidote was nestled on top of.

Rocky followed Tommy's gaze. A smile crept across his face as they realized that they were almost there, that they almost had what they needed to save the others. "Come on, let's go."

Cautiously, the ranger boys stepped out onto the ice. They tested it slowly at first. Once they felt that the floor was secure enough, they picked up the pace. They were almost halfway across the room when they heard a crack.

"What was that?" Tommy asked as they both turned around.

The ice from the spot that they entered was starting to collapse, and the falling ice was moving forward at an alarming rate. "I think we had better speed it up a notch." Rocky said as they turned and ran.

To their surprise, the ice on the other side of the floor started to collapse and move in toward them. Before they knew it, they were standing on a piece of ice a foot wide, with only seconds to make a decision.

"Jump!" Tommy called out, although he had not needed to, it was Rocky's thought as well.

Both boys jumped through the air. Tommy, who had been closer to the other side when they jumped, easily grabbed onto the ledge. Rocky had been farther away, and could not quite catch the edge. "Rocky!" Tommy yelled, watching as the blue ranger fell from his view.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, pulling himself over the ledge and onto solid ground. Once he was safe, he peered over the ledge, hoping to see something to indicate that Rocky was all right. Instead, he saw nothing, not even the ground below, as there was a dense layer of fog blocking his view. "Shit." He swore as he leaned back. "We were so close."

Tommy stayed at the edge, observing a moment of silence for a fallen teammate. The others were going to be devastated, especially Carri. He felt like a failure as a leader. He let out a small sigh. It was going to be even worse if he did not keep going. He was going to lose two more teammates.

As he stood, something reached out and grabbed his foot. Startled at first, Tommy looked down and saw the hand with the blue lined communicator on its wrist. "Rocky?" he asked in disbelief.

"Are you going to stare or are you going to help me up?" Rocky questioned as he grabbed the ledge with his other hand.

Tommy immediately leaned down and grabbed a hold of his friend, pulling him up to the surface. "Man I thought you were."

"Don't think." Rocky interrupted. Honestly, he thought he was too. Fortunately, for him, the surface was not smooth all the way down and he was able to grab a piece of ice that stuck out. "It's dangerous." He added with a smile.

Once Tommy pulled Rocky to his feet, the duo turned around. They started walking toward the cave when they heard a growl. Rocky glanced toward Tommy. "Any guesses?"

"Yes." Tommy said with a frown. "But I don't think you'll want to hear them."

Suddenly a three-headed dog appeared out of nowhere and was standing in their way. "I'm no mythology buff, but isn't the only three headed dog the one that belongs to Hades?" Rocky questioned.

"Yes." Tommy replied with a sigh. Now would be a great time to have access to their Zeo powers. "Down Cerberus."

Cerberus started heading toward them and the boys backed up to the ledge. "Here's the plan." Tommy said as he thought quickly. Rocky turned toward him and he continued. "We wait until he lunges toward us. Then we jump over him."

Rocky shook his head. It wasn't the best idea. However, Tommy did go along with his crazy idea earlier, he figured it was the least he could do to go along with this one. "Let's do it."

For a few moments, Cerberus simply stared the rangers down, trying to figure out what their next move would be. When they declined to make one, the dog decided he would and he pushed forward to grab them. Rocky and Tommy jumped over him as planned, and Cerberus was unable to stop himself in time. Seconds later, he went flying over the edge.

Tommy and Rocky turned around and watched as the dog disappeared from view. "That's a long way down." Tommy commented.

"At least you didn't attempt to see how far." Rocky pointed out as they stood up straight and turned to face the gate.

"True." Tommy said with a smile as he glanced at the antidote. They were almost there. Only the gate stood in their way and then they would be able to rescue the others.

"My look at them. They've made it all the way to the gate." Callisto commented, trying to restrain her anger. She still had a plan; this was not all a loss. Taking a deep breath, she continued. "No matter. Once the gate is open I have a little surprise for them." She said with an evil laugh.

"Hey Calli…sto." Rito had started to use his nickname for her but quickly changed his mind once he saw the glare she gave him. "The green ranger is all alone. Whatcha gonna do about it?"

Callisto looked around. "You're right." She said as she thought about it. "I haven't paid Earth a visit yet."

"Can I be in charge while you're gone?" Rito asked hopefully. He noticed her look of skepticism and he continued. "Can I? Please?" he begged.

"I would choose to put a ranger in charge over you." Callisto replied with disgust. "Besides, last I checked this was Zedd's palace, not yours." She pointed out. Grinning wickedly, she created a small flame on her finger. "Time to go have some fun." She said before leaving.

"You idot." Zedd growled as he shot Rito a look. "Can I be in charge? Of course not!" he yelled as he stepped up and took his throne back.

"I hope she has something good up her sleeve." Rita said as she looked up from her telescope. "Because beyond that gate is the antidote."

"I'm sure she does." Zedd replied. Callisto seemed very excited about whatever it was that she had planned for the rangers. "Now let's watch those rangers squirm." Zedd said with a laugh as he turned his attention back to the end of their quest.

* * *

The two rangers had been searching for some sort of way through the gate, but they e had not been able to find any means of creating an entry point that they could find. They both knew that they were running out of time, and the blue ranger was frustrated.

"Damn gate!" Rocky cursed as he looked at it. "Why won't you open already? What are you waiting for, an open sesame?"

Much to their surprise, the gate slowly began to open. Despite the seriousness of their situation, Tommy could not help but laugh. Eventually, Rocky gave in to the laughter as well. As the gate swung fully open, Tommy turned toward his friend. "Let's get the antidote and get back."

The minute they stepped through the gate, three figures appeared before them. "Welcome." A leather clad warrior spoke. "I am Theodorus, and these are my men. And we're the last faces you'll ever see."

Theodorus drew his sword and his men followed suit. He was a loyal warrior of Callisto's. It was why she allowed him to choose his two best soldiers to join him in this task. She had used her powers to save him from the depths of hell. Although she could not bring him to the surface world, guarding the antidote for her was good enough.

"I believe we're screwed." Rocky commented. The lava patrol was dumb as dirt, and Cerberus was nothing more than a dog. However, these were smart human soldiers wielding weapons. He definitely wished they could morph now.

"One rule here." Tommy said as he glanced over toward him. "Don't die." They had come this far, he was not going to let anything stop them now.

"No problem." Rocky replied, although he felt as though this was going to be easier said than done. He turned to look at Tommy, who nodded at him. Then the two of them separated and went to fight the trio in front of them.

Tommy found himself fighting Theodorus's two soldiers. He engaged in battle with them, but they seemed to have some sort of return from the dead strength. They were giving him some trouble. Trouble in the sense that he kept getting thrown across the room more often than he would like to admit.

Elsewhere, Rocky had come up against Theodorus. The soldier looked at him and smiled. "You and your friend have met your match."

Rocky smirked. "Why is it that everyone likes to say that to us?" He questioned as he kicked Theodorus, watching as the surprised warrior stumbled backwards.

Theodorus got his bearings back and glared at the ranger. "You'll pay for that." He promised. Moving swiftly, he threw Rocky across the room and into the column that held the antidote.

Callisto's prized warrior walked over and pinned Rocky with his sword, at the same time Tommy was being pinned as well. Rocky struggled to free himself, and in his struggle, the solid column he was forced up against was starting to move.

Much to their surprise, a few seconds later the column tipped over. Theodorus thought it was steadier than that, and when it fell he lost his grip on the blue ranger and the ranger tumbled backward with the column. He saw Rocky grab the antidote but he was not going to let him get anywhere with it. Leaping on top of him, he held his sword up high and prepared to finish the ranger off. Before he got the chance, a bright light engulfed both rangers and teleported them away.

* * *

Callisto found herself in the middle of Angel Grove Park. "It's beautiful here. So peaceful and calm." Callisto said as she looked around. "That's all about to change." She said, grinning wickedly as she looked at the flame that still burned on her finger.

"Look at her! She looks stupid!" called a kid from his perch in a nearby tree.

Callisto glared up at him and saw him with his friend laughing at her. She knew exactly what to burn down first. She allowed the flame to transform into a fireball then she hurled it at the tree. The fire spread up quickly and she smiled as the children's screams filled the air. When their mothers rushed in for an attempted rescue, she threw fireballs at them as well, burning them instantly.

"What a wonderful day." Callisto commented as she walked off, leaving her victims behind her. She was wondering whom to kill next when she found a middle-aged woman trying to help an older man get out of the way.

"Please don't hurt us." The woman begged as Callisto approached.

The goddess noticed the way the woman was pulling the older man protectively close to her. "Is this your father?" She watched as the woman shook her head yes. Callisto smiled. "In that case I'll burn him first so you can watch."

The horrified expression that crossed the woman's face made Callisto giddy. "Don't worry. You will burn so fast you won't feel any pain. The worst part is going to be listening to your fathers screams as the fire engulfs him." She knew that pain better than anyone did.

"Stop right there!" a voice yelled from behind her.

Callisto turned to find the green ranger staring at her. "Well, what do we have here?" Callisto asked, leaving the father and daughter alone and moving closer to Adam. "One lone power ranger?"

"Just because there is only one of me doesn't mean you'll win." Adam said, more determined than ever. She had already caused too much damage. She did not show up on their scanners until it was too late, until lives had already been lost.

Callisto smiled. "We'll see about that." She said as Adam came running at her. With a flip of her wrist, she sent him flying back. He stood and advanced again, and again she sent him backwards with minimal effort.

"This is getting boring." Callisto said with a sigh. She reached back and grabbed her sword. It was time to have a little fun.

Adam looked up just in time to see the goddess charge him, sword out. He called for his Zeo sword and stood firm, waiting for the attack.

"You're no match for me." Callisto hissed as she struck his sword with hers and the hand-to-hand combat began.

* * *

Two figures materialized in the Power Chamber. "You're back!" Jason exclaimed as he jumped up to greet them.

"Here's the antidote." Rocky said as he handed the vile over to Alpha. They were not sure how they made it back but they were grateful to be here in one piece with the cure.

Alpha took the vile and immediately went to work. "Oh rangers, I hope it isn't too late." He fretted as he started to administer the antidote.

Tommy glanced at the four figures unconscious on the medical beds. "How are they?"

"Not good." Jason said as he shook his head. "Not good at all I'm afraid."

Jason saw the worried glances from his friends but none of them had the opportunity to comment as the alarm went off. "Rangers, Adam is in need of your assistance in the park." Zordon informed them.

"Right." Tommy said as he and Rocky moved into position. "It's morphin time!"

"Zeo ranger three, blue!"

"Zeo ranger five, red!"

* * *

"Zeo five, power weapon!" Tommy yelled the moment he and Rocky hit the ground. He wasted no time running to attack Callisto, with Rocky right behind him. Both boys were angry with her for what she did to the others, and for what she put them through.

"You're back!" Adam exclaimed as the goddess was attacked from the sides and pushed back.

"Looks like we made it just in time." Tommy said as he and Rocky fell into line with Adam.

"Oh goodie." Callisto said as she swung her sword in her hands. She could not believe they survived. Theodorus would pay for this. First, she had to take care of these rangers. "More rangers for me to play with."

"Play with this." Rocky said as he and Tommy both attacked her with their weapons.

The red and blue Zeo rangers started a fierce battle with Callisto, one that Adam quickly joined in on. They had to bring the goddess down before she got the chance to do any more damage.

* * *

Jason paced around the Power Chamber, anxiously waiting for any news of his friends' conditions. "Is it working?" he asked as he stopped and glanced at Alpha.

"It appears to be working but I cannot say for sure." Alpha replied as he glanced at their vitals. "If there is no change in their condition soon, we may have lost them forever."

Jason thrust his fist angrily down on a console. "That will not happen." He said with a growl. "And if it does, I'll find Callisto and tear her from limb from limb myself, powers or no powers." Kat was a friend and Carri was like his sister. If they did not pull through, there was no way he would let Callisto get away with this.

"Jason do not get carried away." Zordon warned. He could understand his anger. However, this was still a goddess they were talking about and they needed to treat the situation appropriately. There would be no revenge, but they would have to stop her.

The former ranger crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not getting carried away." He assured his mentor. He was just stating facts. Callisto would pay for this.

He watched the foursome intently, his eyes focused mostly on the two rangers. Finally Carri and Jackson both started to stir. "Thank God." Jason said, letting out a sigh of relief.

"It would be wise for you to leave before they awaken." Zordon said as he glanced down at the first red ranger.

"Right." Jason agreed. He wanted to stay here and make sure everything was all right, but Jackson and Christian did not need to see him here. They had to get them to believe their explanation as it was.

Carri sat up just as Jason was teleporting out. "Jason! Hey Jase don't leave." Carri grumbled. She felt like she got hit by a Mack truck and one of her best friends just took off on her. "Never mind." She said with a sigh. "He can't hear me now."

"As in your friend Jason?" Jackson questioned as he sat up as well and looked around. "I think you were hallucinating. He wouldn't be here, wherever here is."

Carri looked around, the fact that she was in the Power Chamber with non-rangers finally sinking in. She glanced over and gave Jackson a smile. "You're right."

As Alpha, started looking over Carri and Jackson, Kat and Christian woke up as well. Christian looked around and was startled by his surroundings. "Where are we?"

"Welcome to the Power Chamber, home of the power rangers." Zordon's booming voice greeted the two newcomers.

"What happened?" Kat questioned as she glanced up at her mentor.

"I remember walking on the beach with Jackson and that's it until now." Carri said as the others chimed in with similar stories. "Did something hit us?" Carri assumed it was Rita and Zedd's hand that did this to them.

Before Zordon could answer, the alarms started going off. Alpha turned toward the viewing screen. "Aye ai ai! The rangers aren't doing so well." He said

Kat and Carri exchanged glances before looking toward Zordon. They needed to get the others out of there. Zordon was aware of that and he spoke quickly. "With the battle at hand, we must cut this short, however I can tell you that Callisto poisoned you and tried to kill you. If it weren't for the rangers, she would have succeeded."

Kat gasped. Fortunately, the others thought it was because she almost died. However, that was not the case. It was because the culprit was Callisto. The last thing she remembered was the odd feeling, the presence she could not put a finger on then. She knew what it was now. It was the goddess, the one who she is descended from.

"It appears as though you are recovered. Due to the battle, it is necessary for me to teleport you four back home." Alpha said. He watched as all four nodded in agreement before he teleported Christian and Jackson back to their hotel.

The minute the coast was clear, Kat and Carri jumped down from the med beds. "It's morphin time!" Carri called out. She was not going to waste any time going after Callisto.

"Zeo ranger one, pink!"

"Zeo ranger two, yellow!"

* * *

The boys flew backwards and landed on the ground. "This isn't working." Adam commented. Her fighting skills were better than theirs were, she had the advantage.

"You want me to go call Superman?" Rocky joked as he glared at Callisto.

"Come on guys, we can do this." Tommy said as he gripped his weapon tighter. They could not; they would not give up no matter what the odds were.

"What about." Adam's words were interrupted when two new battle cries cut through the air.

The two female rangers hit an unsuspecting Callisto from behind. She fell forward and stood, immediately turning to face her attackers. "You're alive." She hissed as she glared at Kat and Carri. "No matter I will kill you myself."

The male rangers circled around Callisto, thrilled to see the girls up and moving again. They were going to make her pay for what she put them through."Nobody messes with the power rangers." Tommy said as they all moved in to attack the goddess.

"But me." Callisto said with a snarl as she flung all five of them out of her way.

Carri stood, her fist clinched. "Zeo two, power sword!" she called out. As the weapon fell into her hands, she walked slowly toward the goddess. "You tried to kill me. You tried to kill my cousin and our friends from Paris. You put everyone else through hell. I won't let you get away with this."

Callisto let out somewhat of a laugh as she glared at the yellow ranger. "I hurt your friends and now you want me dead." She recapped Carri's statement. "You sound just like her." She spat. "That's why you must die."

The other four rangers jumped up, but stopped when Carri put a hand up, indicating that this was not their fight. "But Carri." Rocky started to protest.

"Let's do this." Carri said, her words cutting Rocky off as she charged at the goddess.

Callisto headed toward her, and as the duo met, their swords clashed loudly, a sound that vibrated through all of Angel Grove. Callisto held her position and glared at the ranger. "You were destined to fight me." She said with an evil grin.

"I was destined to kill you." Carri said with a snarl as she pushed her back.

Callisto let out a laugh. "You don't have the guts." She pointed out. "Even if you did, you can't kill me. I'm a goddess."

"You being a goddess has nothing to do with our fight." Carri pointed out before she attacked once more and the two locked weapons. With a swift kick from the yellow ranger, the duo was separated again.

As Carri tried to hit Callisto with her weapon, Callisto held her hand up and flung Carri across the battlefield, shooting a jolt of energy through her as she did so. "Now it does." She said with a maniacal laugh.

The yellow ranger flew through the air until she smacked into a tree, powering down as she fell to the ground. The other rangers took that moment to rush back into the fight. Kat was the first one to attack the goddess. "I can't believe I'm related to you in any way."

"Well believe it." Callisto said with a grin as she threw all four incoming rangers in different directions. The others were spread out far from the center of the action. Callisto smiled as she watched them fall hard in various locations.

Satisfied with a job well done, she headed over toward the yellow ranger. "Well what do we have here?" Callisto questioned, watching as Carri was starting to stir. She stepped to the side of her and looked around at the other rangers, a twisted smile on her face as she shoved the tree over on top of their friend.

Laughing, she walked away. "Did I do that?" she asked, glancing at the other rangers who were struggling to stand.

"Zeo two, power kick!" Carri yelled as she hit Callisto from behind. She had seen her coming toward her and she heard the tree start to crack as Callisto gave it a shove. The goddess had not watched to make sure she followed through. Carri teleported herself up just in time, morphing and teleporting herself back down before Callisto knew what was going on.

Callisto stood and glared at Carri, hissing. It was Carri's turn to laugh. "You can't get rid of me that easily."

The other rangers gathered around Carri. She was ready to go after the Zeo Cannon. Before she got the chance, Callisto lifted a hand up and teleported herself away.

* * *

"Where is she going?" Zedd bellowed as she disappeared.

"Finster!" Rita screeched, watching as he scurried in. "Send a monster down now!"

"Your highness, I don't have any molds prepared at the moment." Finster said. He watched as Rita huffed and stormed off.

Zedd glared at the morphed rangers, who were celebrating and teleporting away. He was going to get them if it was the last thing he did. "Next time rangers."

* * *

Jackson, Christian, Carri and Kat headed into the Youth Center and made their way toward the table that held the rest of their friends. As they approached, they exchanged hellos briefly before Carri spoke.

"We were hoping you guys could fill us in a bit here." Carri said as she glanced at the others. An entire day was missing, one that the others said she spent with Jackson, and she would like to know what happened.

Rocky went over and wrapped his arms around her. "I think this is one thing we all want to put behind us." He replied. She almost died, and he almost died trying to rescue her. He wanted to forget about that and move on. Plus she went out with Jackson, and he had no idea what happened there. As jealous as he was, he thought it was best that way. He smiled at her before taking her hand and guiding her out of the Youth Center for some alone time, pausing briefly to wave goodbye to the others.

"Winnie it's so good to see you." Christian said as he walked over and gave his girlfriend a hug. He knew he went out with Kat. Winnie must have been devastated.

Winnie eagerly returned the hug. "It's good to see you too." She replied. She was glad he was in her arms now, and that it really wasn't him who cheated on her.

"Do you want to go out?" Christian asked. He would like to take his girlfriend somewhere nice.

"Of course." Winnie replied with a smile as she let Christian lead her away.

They were not the only two couples who were missing each other. As they left, the pink ranger turned to her boyfriend. "Do you want to go somewhere?"

Tommy stood and grabbed Kat's hand. "Of course." He replied as he leaned in and kissed her cheek. He was glad that she was alive, that he and Rocky made it to the antidote in time.

As Tommy and Kat left, Jackson sat down with the others. "How's it going?" he asked, trying to have some sort of normal conversation after their abnormal day.

"Fine." Laz said. He thought about it for a moment before standing. He did not want to sit around the table and make weird small talk. "Let's go sightseeing."

Ashley and Lauren jumped up as well. "It will be fun." Ashley said as she thought about it. "Even though it won't be as exciting as Paris."

"We'll need a guide." Lauren pointed out as she looked at the two remaining males.

Adam glanced over at Jason. "That's our cue." He said with a grin.

The two boys stood, Jason saying a quick goodbye to Emily, before they led the remainder of the group from Paris out of the Youth Center and on a tour of Angel Grove.

* * *

Around eleven that night, two figures met up on the beach and started walking down the shoreline. One glanced over at the other, who obviously had a lot on her mind. "What's wrong?" Jason asked. She had called him when she got home, saying that she wanted to chat.

Carri sighed. "It was all wrong."

"It?" Jason questioned, raising an eyebrow. "What it?"

"The whole evening with Rocky." Carri replied, making a face. He was babying her and acting off and it bothered her. It was the only time she was glad one of their dates was over, it was weird.

Jason looked alarmed. As long as he has known her, she had never complained about a date with Rocky. "What happened?"

"I don't know. It's just," Carri paused for a moment as she thought about how she wanted to say it, "he was all over me." She stopped when Jason snickered. Rolling her eyes, she continued. "Not like that. As if I was a porcelain doll he had to protect. Then when he was not hovering over me, he was somewhat distant. Something wasn't right."

Jason nodded. It was not that much of a surprise to him. "I think you deserve to know what happened." He said.

"And that will make tonight make sense?" Carri questioned as she looked up at him.

"Yes. However, you have to promise not to tell anyone I told you. We made a pact as a group to put this behind us and not fill you in." The Paris teens did not want to talk about it, especially Winnie who never wanted to speak of Christians' dating Kat again. Tommy and Rocky thought that they were better off not knowing what happened, not knowing how close to death they were and what they had to do to rescue them. Which is why when the Paris teens wanted not to really say much to the others, they agreed. However, Jason and Carri were close, and they did not keep secrets. He felt like he owed it to her to tell her.

"Jase you know me." Carri said with a grin. "Have I ever gone around blabbing what we talk about?" They talked about a lot. They were both good at keeping each other's secrets.

Jason grinned. "Nah. You make a pretty good friend."

"Unlike some other people I know." Carri teased.

Jason raised an eyebrow. "You're not talking about me are you?" When she nodded her head yes, he gave her a playful shove.

She laughed and turned toward him. "I have been talking to Kim you know." She replied. Kim had told her that although Jason was good at keeping big secrets, sometimes he would let the little things slip.

Jason opened his mouth to defend himself but he could not think of anything to say. He knew he had repeated some of the things Kim said to him. It was never anything serious and she had repaid the favor out of spite once or twice. He simply shut his mouth and turned away. Real secrets he was good at keeping and she knew that, but he knew that she would not let him win this argument. And although he usually did not fall back on an argument with Carri, there were more important things to discuss.

"Yeah. That's what I'm talking about." Carri said with a satisfied grin. "You know I'm right."

Jason groaned. He hated letting her be right. She laughed briefly before Jason got serious again. "Back to the topic at hand."

"Why don't you start from the top." Carri suggested.

"You and Jackson came into the Youth Center, blew off Rocky and left. Kat and Christian came in with you guys, blew off Tommy and Winnie, and left. Us guys, being as intelligent as we are, figured it was a spell so we went to Alpha to confirm." He started the tale.

"Let me guess, another love spell?" Carri questioned as she groaned and rolled her eyes.

"That's what we thought, and for the first day it seemed that way. Then the real potion kicked in and it was killing you all quickly." Jason paused as he glanced over at her. "Rocky and Tommy went into Callisto's hell to get the antidote. They were lucky they made it back, they almost died."

He watched as Carri absorbed that bit before he continued. "You almost died. We weren't sure if the antidote had worked. Alpha thought they hadn't made it in time, that there was still a chance we had lost you all." Jason did not know what he would have done, what the others would have done if they died. He sighed and continued. "Anyway, you almost died, he almost died, add that to the fact that you spent a day with Jackson doing God knows what…"

"And it would leave Rocky feeling somewhat jealous and way overprotective." Carri said with a sigh. He had to squash the jealous tendencies Carri knew he had, plus she was as good as dead and he almost died to save her. All and all, a crappy day. "It makes sense now."

Jason nodded slightly. "Feeling better now?"

"Much. Thank you." Carri replied. She was glad that Jason was free to talk to her. He was one of the few people she could really talk to. She knew that her cousin found it odd that she could hang out with Jason and talk about almost anything. Kat did not even know half the stuff that she shared with Jason. She loved her cousin to death, but moving in with her showed that they were more different than she thought. There were many topics the pink ranger didn't care to talk about, and serious boyfriend conversations were avoided all together. On the other hand, she clicked with Jason when they first met and she found it easy to talk to him. Having him around was like having another brother.

"Not a problem." Jason replied as he looked up and noticed the empty Beach Club coming into view. "Let's go sit over there." Jason said, gesturing toward one of the tables.

He led Carri to the closest table and they pulled the seats out and made themselves comfortable. They were both leaning back and looking at the night sky while listening to the waves. It was peaceful until Jason spoke. "You think if I sit here long enough Emily will show up?"

Carri chuckled as she looked over toward him. "Yeah but don't expect me to sit here with you." She replied. She paused for a moment before continuing. "Speaking of Emily, how are things going?"

Jason looked over at her and grinned before filling her in. That was the start of several conversations between the duo, conversations that lasted until they both fell asleep under the stars.

* * *

The next day, Winnie and Christian were sitting in the Youth Center, practically in each other's laps as they whispered back and forth to each other, laughing and enjoying being together. On their right sat Lauren and Ashley, who were having their own conversation, while Jason and Carri were carrying on to their left.

Although they sat together as a group, nobody was paying any attention to anyone else in the group, which is why Carri leaned over and whispered something in Jason's ear. Jason laughed and whispered something back, just as Emily came up behind him and put her arms around him.

"How's it going?" Emily asked as she glanced over at Carri. She was glad to see her friend was up and moving and seemingly back to herself.

"Good." Carri replied with a grin. "Today is a new day and I intend on taking advantage of it." After her discussion with Jason the night before she decided that her new goal was to get everyone to move past the incident with Callisto.

"Glad to hear it." Emily said as she leaned in closer to Jason. "Guess what?"

"What?" Jason asked as he turned and looked up at his girlfriend.

"Ernie gave me today off." Emily replied with a grin. She had put in many hours lately he said she deserved it.

"That's great." Jason said as he pulled her closer and kissed her. "Now we can spend some time together."

Before Emily got to reply, Kat, Rocky and Tommy made their way to the table, Kat immediately heading up to her cousin. "Where were you last night?" she asked in as friendly of a voice as possible. She did not think it was right for her cousin to spend the night out like that. Plus it was weird seeing as how Rocky had no idea where she was either. If she was not with Rocky, Kat assumed that left her spending the night with Jason, which to her was more than a little odd. She did not share her theory with her parents, who for the most part glossed over Carri's absence. Carri had been relatively well behaved in the year she lived with them, contrary to what Aunt Becky thought would happen, and since she was eighteen and starting college in a few months, they were willing to let it slide.

"Who me?" Carri asked, watching as Kat nodded. She knew Kat thought her relationship with Jason was strange. She doubted Kat would approve if it had been her out there with her boyfriend last night, let alone with a guy she had no romantic feelings for. "I was out. I made it in really early, showered and took off." She worked hard to head back out before anyone could catch her and lecture her.

"But," Rocky started to protest. She was his girlfriend and she was spending the night out with someone that was not him. Like Kat, he suspected that someone was Jason and he could not help but feel a little jealous. However, neither of them had given any indication that they cared for each other romantically and he trusted his girlfriend.

Carri jumped up and grabbed Rocky's shoulders before he could continue. "It's a new day babe. Let us put yesterday behind us. Out with the old, in with the new." She said as she put her arms around his neck and leaned up to give him a kiss. "What do you say?"

"Sounds like a plan to me." Rocky replied. Whatever Jason said it seemed to revitalize her. He supposed he owed the former ranger a thank you. Last night was weird. He knew he was off because of everything that happened and she seemed to be too. He was thrilled to scratch all that out and move forward.

Adam slipped into the Youth Center and walked over to say hello to everyone. Laz and Jackson, who were enthusiastic when they came to the table, quickly followed him. "Are you guys ready to hit the beach today?" Jackson asked.

"Beach?" Ashley questioned. "You never said anything about the beach."

"Well we're saying it now." Laz replied with a grin. "Hot girls here we come."

Lauren smiled as she followed Laz's train of thought. "Shirtless guys relaxing on the beach? I'm in."

"It should be fun." Kat added. If they really were going to forget the mess that was the last day and a half, it would be good.

"We can play volleyball." Tommy suggested. That was one of their favorite beach activities.

"Yeah." Emily agreed, her eyes lighting up as she glanced toward Carri. "Girls versus boys."

Carri grinned wickedly as Jason turned toward his girlfriend and made a face. "But that's not fair." He said with a smirk.

Emily raised an eyebrow as she removed her hands from him and placed them firmly on her hips. "Jason Scott, are you suggesting we'd lose?"

"You sure do pick up on things fast." Jason teased.

As one, Emily and Carri smacked him. Emily then huffed and grabbed Carri's arm, pulling her away from Rocky. "Come on girls. We have to discuss strategy." She said as the other females stood and followed her out of the Youth Center.

Rocky watched them leave. "You don't honestly think that?" he stopped mid question.

Tommy glanced over toward him. "No. How could they."

"You know how they think." Jason replied. His girlfriend and Carri had often ganged up to argue that they could take on the guys in any sport.

"But don't they know by now?" Adam questioned with a grin.

"This ought to be interesting." Jackson said. Taken or not, it would be fun to watch the girls jump around in bikini's chasing volleyballs while they creamed them.

"I just hope we don't embarrass them too badly." Laz said.

"Guys, what are we waiting for?" Christian asked. He just wanted to get out on the beach with Winnie.

The seven guys exchanged glances. Then they all moved at once and headed for the door. Yesterday was in the past. Callisto was gone and everyone was happy and healthy. Today was their day to enjoy themselves. It was time to get changed and head out for a relaxing afternoon on the beach.


	12. Trouble in Paradise

**Disclaimer:** All known Power Ranger characters belong to Saban. Everyone else belongs to me.  
**Author's Notes:** This chapter is for KSuzie. We've all been looking forward to Florida :)

Ranger Scrolls  
"Trouble in Paradise"

It was a sunny summer afternoon when a yellow clad female suddenly cursed out loud, realizing that she had left her wallet in the house and that she wasn't going anywhere without it. She turned and headed back inside, her friend following her.

"Come on Car, we're going to be late." Jason said with a sigh. He told her he would pick her up that afternoon. She was on his way and her car was in the shop getting some routine maintenance done. He did not realize she would be running behind and turn around to go back into the house every five minutes.

"Sorry." Carri said with a roll of her eyes. "What can I say. I woke up late this morning and I am running behind." She said as she grabbed her wallet off the counter and took her ID and some cash out, shoving it into her pocket.

Jason simply sighed as he and Carri prepared to head back out. Again. Before they made it to the door, the phone rang and as a habit, Carri answered. "Carri!" Jason exclaimed.

"Hello?" she asked, completely ignoring the former ranger.

"Hey." The familiar voice on the other end replied. "Carri?" she questioned to confirm she got the correct Hillard.

"Kim?" Carri questioned, excited to hear from the former pink ranger. When she confirmed her identity, Carri continued. "How are you?"

"I'm good. I'm getting ready for the games." Kim said. She paused for a moment; waiting to see if that would spark Carri's memory. When Carri did not say anything, she continued. "Speaking of the games, did you get anything in the mail yesterday?"

"Um… maybe." Carri said with a shrug that Kim could not see. She had not bothered to look. Between her late night date and even later monster battle, she had not bothered to glance at her mail when she came in.

"Go check." Kim urged her friend. She had sent her something USPS with delivery conformation. She knew it arrived yesterday.

"On it." Carri said as she walked over toward the corner that her Aunt and Uncle usually threw her mail. She shuffled through it until she found the one from Florida. She opened it up and pulled out a set of tickets. "You're inviting us to the Pan Globals?" she questioned.

"Yeah. I thought the team, Jason, and Emily could come down. You would have to fly down here Monday but it would be fun." Kim said. After her spring visit, she knew she still had friends on the team. She wanted them to be there when she competed.

"That's kind of short notice." Carri said dryly. It was Friday. They were going to be booking flights out for Monday.

"Well if you would have bothered to get your mail yesterday, you would have had them an extra day." Kim joked.

"Eh." Carri replied before turning toward Jason. "What are you doing next week?"

"If you're asking if I want to go watch Kim compete in Florida, the answer is yes." Jason replied. He was not a moron, he heard her end of the conversation, and he had figured it out. "Let me talk to Kim."

Carri said a quick goodbye to Kim before passing the phone along to Jason. The former Gold Ranger put the phone to his ear and greeted the original pink ranger. "Hey Kim! How's Florida?"

"Hot." Kim replied, grinning. She was glad she called at the right time. It was nice to get to say hello to Jason.

"Just hot?" Jason questioned. He could hear Kim laugh on the other end and he continued. "What about the games?"

"Those?" Kim asked. "They're alright. I'm only the number one qualifier." She said, the excitement in her voice picking up at the end.

"Kim that's great!" Jason exclaimed. He knew she was an excellent gymnast. It was no surprise to him when he heard that she was going to Florida to train for the Pan Globals.

"I'm hoping all of you guys will come and watch." Kim said.

"Count me in." Jason replied. He glanced briefly at his watch and made a face. "I hate to cut this short, but Carri and I need to get out of here. We're late as it is."

"Late for what?" Kim pried. She half expected him to say a date, although she knew better. Jason and Carri were friends much like she and Jason were.

"We are meeting the others at the fair." Jason replied. "Actually, we were supposed to meet them ten minutes ago." The others were going to have a fit.

"Oh, great." Kim said with more enthusiasm than she felt. She was not going to admit it, but it made her slightly jealous. She loved her gymnastics training, but she would really enjoy going to the fair with the rangers. "See you Monday then?"

"Monday it is." Jason said as he hung up the phone and turned toward Carri. "Have you got everything you need? We're not going to get out the door and you realize you forgot something else?"

"Jason." Carri said in mock surprise. "You know me better than that." She added before turning and heading out the front door.

"That's what I'm afraid of." Jason grumbled as he followed her out. She grinned at him and he rolled his eyes before they both jumped into his car and headed toward the fair.

* * *

Jason and Carri were not the only ones running late as they ran into Adam at the gate. They hurried and bought their tickets before heading in, where Tommy, Kat, Rocky and Emily were waiting for them.

Rocky glanced over at his girlfriend. "We thought we were going to be late when our classes ran over. I didn't know we had twenty minutes to spare."

Carri rolled her eyes but for the most part ignored him. "Guess who I talked to." She and Adam said practically at the same time. They both turned toward each other and grinned speaking simultaneously again. "You go first."

"Slow down guys." Tommy said with a chuckle. They needed to get off the same wavelength so that the rest of the team could be in on their conversations.

"Ladies first." Adam said, turning toward Carri. Whatever she had to share, it probably would not be as good as his conversation with Tanya. He would be nice and let her speak first.

"How kind." Carri said before turning her attention to the group. "Kim called. She wants us to all fly to Florida on Monday. She sent us tickets to see her compete next week."

"That's great!" Tommy exclaimed, his heart practically jumping out of his chest with the thought of seeing Kim again. He took a moment to calm it down. He could not react that way. Kim left him for someone else he was with Kat now.

"So what do you guys think? You guys going to join me and Jase in Florida?" Carri questioned, grinning mischievously at her boyfriend. She thought they might have a good time in Florida. They had never gone anywhere together outside of southern California.

A chorus of yes's greeted her. The only person who said no was Emily. When all eyes turned toward her, she elaborated. "Ernie is going out of town next week. I'm supposed to keep an eye on the Youth Center for him."

Jason frowned as he went to give his girlfriend a hug. "Florida won't be the same without you." He was looking forward to taking her with him.

"I know someone who can go in her place." Adam piped up. The others turned to face him and he continued. "Tanya."

"Tanya?" Kat questioned. She and Tanya had become close during the time they had been Zeo rangers together. She missed her friend; it would be so much fun to have her in Florida with them.

"I talked to her this morning. She said she has some free time and that she's going to fly in town tomorrow, stay for two weeks." Adam replied. The three original Zeo rangers were buzzing with excitement as he went to address Kat. "She said she wanted to make sure her room was still available."

"Of course it is!" Kat exclaimed. She grinned and looked around at the others. "This is going to be an exciting week."

"It sounds that way." Rocky said as he stepped over toward Carri and put an arm around her. "You guys ready to enjoy the fair?"

"Lead the way." Carri replied with a grin as she glanced up at her boyfriend. "Just not straight for the food cart." She added.

The other rangers snickered and Rocky rolled his eyes. "Come on, let's go play some games." He said as he and Carri led the group off toward all the action.

* * *

After spending the rest of their day at the fair, the group of teens got up early Saturday morning to go and meet Tanya's plane. "Which gate is it?" Kat asked anxiously as they headed into the terminal. She could not wait to see the former yellow ranger again.

"Over here." Adam said as he pointed toward a gate at the end of the terminal before leading the rangers in the right direction.

"I can't wait to see Tanya again." Tommy commented. Although he enjoyed having Carri as Zeo two, he missed the former yellow ranger.

"Me too." Adam agreed. He could not wait to see his girlfriend again. They had been doing the long distance thing for almost a year now. It was hard on both of them and it was going to be good for them to spend some time together.

The overhead speakers came to life and one of the airline employee's voices came through. "Delta Airways flight 102 from New York now arriving."

Everyone who was waiting for someone from that flight moved as close as they could toward the gate. A few minutes later, people started flooding out. The rangers anxiously waited to see Tanya walk through the gates.

"Half of New York must have flown out here today." Carri grumbled as she searched the crowd for Tanya. She sighed as more and more people entered the terminal that were not her.

Suddenly Adam pointed toward the door. "There she is!" he exclaimed as he started to work his way through the crowd to get to her. The moment he made his way to her he put his arms around her and brought her to him for a hug.

Tanya's lips met Adam's as she smiled at her boyfriend. "It's good to see you again." She said as the other rangers started to file in behind him. She smiled at her former teammates, letting her boyfriend go briefly so that she could greet them. "Kat!" she exclaimed, heading over to hug her good friend first.

The pink ranger greeted Tanya with a hug and a hello. "How are you? How is the record deal going?" Kat asked.

"It's going good. A bit slower than I thought it would." Tanya said with a frown. She was hoping to have an album out this year but it did not look like that was going to be the case. "What about you?" she asked, changing the subject, "how are you?"

"Good." Kat said with a smile. "Been busy with school and work." She said, glancing briefly toward her communicator.

Tanya nodded in understanding as she moved over to greet Tommy. "Look whose back." The red ranger said as he gave her a hug.

"Did you miss me?" Tanya questioned, returning the hug before letting go.

"Of course we did." Tommy replied sincerely before giving Carri a grin. "Things were much more normal with you here."

Carri caught the look on Tommy's face and she crossed her arms over her chest and snorted. "Normal in comparison to what?"

Tommy ignored her comment and turned his attention back to the former ranger. "We do miss you. Not having you around took some getting used to."

"I'll bet Rocky adapted to the change pretty quickly." Tanya said as she turned and stepped toward the blue ranger.

"I saw nothing wrong with change." Rocky replied as he gave Tanya a hug. "But don't get me wrong, I do miss having you here." He missed her because she was a friend and she was his best friend's girlfriend. Even though he missed her, he did really like the fact that his girlfriend got to be a ranger with him and he wouldn't want to change that for anything.

"Well I missed all of you guys." Tanya said as she looked over at the three rangers. She turned to see one person she knew and two she did not. She elected to go say hello to the yellow ranger first. "How are things going?"

"Good." Carri replied. She thought for a moment then she continued. "I'm still here in California with my friends and my boyfriend. And I got to graduate from Angel Grove High instead of Westside. It can't get much better than that." Except for the part where she was a ranger but she was not going to add that in here.

"Speaking of Westside, I met several of your friends from there in New York." Tanya informed her. Knowing Carri had been quite beneficial to her. It was a high-end school in Manhattan, and most of the kids there were from money. She had gotten in through the record company, as they wanted her to have the best education.

Although she was friendly with everyone, she had trouble making friends. She was not from one of the area's influential families and they ignored her because of it. It was almost two months after she got there when she found herself talking to one of the cheerleaders during class. When the girl asked her where she was from and she said Angel Grove, she got all excited about her good friend Carri that moved out there a few months ago. Once Tanya told her that she knew and was friends with Carri, she had become accepted by association. Senior year got much easier after that.

Carri rolled her eyes at the mention of her so-called friends. They were not exactly her type of people and she was thrilled to not have anything to do with them anymore. "I hope that went well." Carri said making a face.

"It," Tanya started with a frown. From Carri's reaction, it was obvious that she knew what type of people they were and how hard it was to fit in there. "We'll talk sometime."

Adam walked over and put an arm around Tanya, turning her toward the last two remaining members of their group. "I'd like you to meet Jason and Emily." He said, doing a quick introduction.

"Nice to meet you." Jason said shaking her hand. "Especially since Adam has told us so much about you." He added.

"All good I hope." Tanya replied with a smile. She knew a lot about Jason and Emily as well. Like the fact that Jason was the Gold Ranger for a time before his body could no longer handle the powers.

Emily watched as Tanya turned toward her and extended her hand. "You're not a goddess or anything are you?" Emily questioned. The comment actually was not so farfetched. According to the news, the woman who attacked recently appeared to be some kind of goddess so there was suspicion that they did actually exist.

Tanya looked confused as she shook Emily's outstretched hand. "Not last time I checked."

"Just making sure." Emily replied with a grin. "Because the way Adam talks about you, you are."

Tommy chuckled, as Adam turned red. "Look, you're making him blush."

"Aw shut up." Adam said as he turned all of his attention toward his girlfriend.

"So," Tanya started as she put her arms around the green ranger, "you've got me all to yourself for two weeks. What are we planning on doing?"

Adam grinned as he looked at his girlfriend. "Today we were going to all hang out and tomorrow is going to be our day." He started, watching as Tanya nodded. "Then on Monday we're flying to Florida to watch the Pan Global games courtesy of Kimberly Hart."

"I forgot that the Pan Globals were this week!" Tanya exclaimed. She enjoyed watching the various athletic competitions when she had the time. However, between school and singing, the fact that they were coming up this summer had slipped her mind. "That should be fun."

Adam smiled and nodded as Tommy piped up. "Are we ready to go ice skating?"

"Seriously?" Tanya questioned with a grin. She had not been ice-skating in a long time. When Tommy nodded, she turned toward her blonde friend and continued. "Kat's not going right?"

For a brief second Kat looked hurt. "Why don't you want me to go?" she asked, wondering what was up with the girl who she thought was one of her closest friends.

"Because," Tanya paused as she grinned, "you're a dancer. You're going to make all of us normal uncoordinated people look bad."

The pink ranger giggled once she realized that Tanya was joking. "Come on guys, let's get going." Kat said as she took Tommy's hand and led the group off.

Tanya migrated in to the center of the group of Zeo rangers that she once served with. She had already gotten caught up on most of the things that were going on thanks to her friends, but she was anxious to hear things from them. Jason fell to the back of the group, standing with his girlfriend and Carri who were busy chatting away.

Eventually they arrived at the baggage claim, grabbed Tanya's luggage, and made it out, heading for the ice skating rink.

* * *

After they finished skating, the group headed over to their usual hang out spot. They were chatting it up as they entered the Youth Center.

"That was a lot of fun." Tanya said as she led the group into the Youth Center.

Carri snorted. "Kat made me look bad." She complained. Having her cousin skate circles around her was not her idea of fun. She could skate well enough, but Kat definitely gave it the dancer's touch.

Jason chuckled as he looked over at his friend. "Kat made everybody look bad." He pointed out. Ice skating was obviously not his thing.

"Why?" Kat said as she glanced at the two complainers and grinned. "Is it because I'm talented and you're not?" she teased as she sat down at the first open table they came to.

"Yup." Carri replied, falling ungracefully into a seat. "That would just about cover it."

"Tanya, you're back!" Ernie exclaimed as he headed over to the group of teens that were filling in at one of the tables. He was glad that he was not leaving until tomorrow; he would have hated to miss seeing Tanya.

"Just for a visit." Tanya replied as she smiled at Ernie. She was glad to see the Youth Center's owner. She owed her opportunity to him.

"How are things in New York?" Ernie questioned.

"Good." Tanya replied with a smile. Not quite what she had expected, but still good. She was getting the opportunity to do what she loved. "I do miss Angel Grove and your burgers though."

Ernie smiled. Everyone who used to visit the Youth Center missed his burgers. He chalked it up to his secret blend of spices. "How about one on the house for you?" he offered.

"That would be great." Tanya replied. She was not excepting the free food but she would take it.

"I'll take a burger." Rocky chimed in.

"Not a free one." Ernie pointed out with a smile. He could not afford to give Rocky free food. The blue ranger would eat him broke before he knew it.

"You know, I've bought so much food here I should get free food, or a discount, or something." Rocky complained. He had not expected to get his burger for free but as long as they were on the topic he'd make his point.

Carri rolled her eyes. "Quit complaining." She said. Ernie had done a lot for them; he was not obliged to give them discounted food. "And I'll have a burger too."

"Anybody else?" Ernie asked. He listened as a series of "yes's" came from the rest of the table. "Alright guys, I'll go get started on those for you."

As Ernie left, the teens started chatting. "I can't wait to get to Florida and see Kim." Carri commented, her mind wandering to her upcoming trip.

"Me neither." Tommy chimed in, a bit too eagerly for Kat's taste.

Kat ignored her boyfriend and turned her attention toward her cousin. "You seem excited to visit a girl you've only talked to once." She said casually. She did not know why Carri would be that interested in visiting Kim.

"Not true." Carri replied quickly. She and Kim had exchanged several letters since her earlier visit and had even talked on the phone a few times. She knew a lot of things about the former pink ranger, they discussed just about everything with the exception of her past relationship with Tommy. "We've talked on the phone and we've been writing each other."

"Oh." Kat replied, somewhat surprised. She could not believe her cousin was talking to Kim and not telling her. "I didn't realize you two were becoming friends."

Carri had a comment ready to go, but before she got the chance to speak, Emily chimed in. "It's too bad I won't be able to meet Kim. Again." She said with a sigh. For the brief amount of time Kim was in town, she was at work. This time around, she was going to be working again.

Jason put an arm around his girlfriend. "Don't worry about it. We'll drag Kim up here one of these days so you can meet her." He knew Kim was interested in getting to know his girlfriend. He knew that one day he would have to get the two girls together.

"I'm excited. I've never been to Florida before." Tanya commented with a smile. "And I've heard a lot about Kim." She added. Kat had told her a bit about the former ranger when she first joined the team, and she knew what happened with the letter.

"I'm just glad you could come with us." Adam said as he smiled at his girlfriend and put an arm around her.

"I'm glad I could come too." Tanya replied, looking up at Adam and returning his smile.

A few minutes later, Ernie came over and set their plates down in front of them. "Enjoy." He said with a smile before he walked off and left the table to eat.

The teens picked up their burgers and dug in. There was a silence across the table as everyone was suddenly focused on eating. A few minutes later, Tommy spoke. "I've finally figured out how to get some peace and quiet around here." He said with a smile, glancing briefly at the yellow ranger. She was the loudest one of the bunch. "Shove food down everyone's throat." He continued.

Carri huffed and made a face toward Tommy before looking at her boyfriend and using this opportunity to pick on him. "Rocky is always eating. Therefore, Rocky is always quiet."

"I don't always eat." Rocky protested in his own defense. "I do other things as well." He said as he glanced over toward his girlfriend.

"That's right." Carri said, giving him her best apologetic face. "I forgot about sleep."

A goofy grin crossed Rocky's face as he hopped out of his seat and pounced on his girlfriend's back. Putting his arms around her, he leaned in to her face. "Now what were you saying?"

She rolled her eyes. "I thought I was clear the first time." She said, trying her hardest to glance back at him. "All you do is eat and sleep."

"Fine. Have it your way." He said as he started tickling her relentlessly. She yelled for him to stop and he held up, not letting her go. "Let's try this again. What were you saying?"

"You are the coolest person I know." Carri said dryly. She could hear Jason snicker as she continued. "And you have a life that doesn't revolve around eating and sleeping."

Rocky let her go. "That's all I wanted to hear." He said as he moved over and sat back down.

As he turned his attention back toward his food, his girlfriend grinned wickedly at him. "I was crossing my fingers." She said.

The blue ranger jumped up and went to start tickling her again, however this time she was expecting it and she slid out of her chair and moved away. He eyed her down and tried to get close but she was good at keeping her distance. As she made it to the other side of the table, she noticed everyone but Jason stand. "Where are you guys going?" she asked her and Rocky's conversation forgotten.

"While you two love birds were fooling around, we ate." Tanya said with a grin. "Now it's time to get out of here." She really wanted to go home and get her things put away.

"Why?" Carri asked as she raised an eyebrow. "So you and Adam can go fool around?" she joked, watching as the green ranger turned red.

"We already had plans for tonight." Tommy jumped in, saving his teammate from any more embarrassment. "We'll talk to you guys later." He said, saying goodbye before leading Kat out.

"I'm taking Tanya home to get settled in." Adam said, hoping that the others would not start back in with the jokes. "She's been on the go all day."

Tanya nodded her head in agreement. "I'm still on east coast time. It's a good time to lounge around for a while."

"See you guys later then." Rocky said, moving back to his seat at the table as Adam and Tanya said goodbye and headed out. He watched as Carri moved over and went to retake her seat as well.

"And my shift starts in five minutes." Emily informed them. She leaned down and gave Jason a kiss before heading off toward the back room to get ready to start working.

Jason's eyes followed Emily until she was out of sight. "I'm just here to watch." He commented. Honestly, he did not have anywhere else to go, he figured he would hang out at the Youth Center for a while then head home.

Carri snorted as the former ranger turned toward her. "What a loser." She said, shaking her head. Jason rolled his eyes in response and Carri stuck her tongue out before smiling at him. He chuckled as she turned back to her food.

The yellow and blue rangers sat at the table for a while, finishing eating and talking to Jason while he watched Emily work. Eventually they left for a date, with Jason taking off right behind him after deciding he did not want to sit there by himself and watch his girlfriend work.

* * *

The next day went by rather uneventfully for the Zeo rangers. Kat and Tommy spent their afternoon out together on a date. Carri took advantage of the warm California sun and spent most of the day out on the beach near her working boyfriend. Jason, who was spending time with his working girlfriend at the beach club when Carri stumbled upon him, later joined her.

The only ranger who had an abnormal day was Adam, but his day was only abnormal because he was spending it with Tanya, the girlfriend he had not seen in almost a year. It was really nice to spend some quality time with her. He took her out around the town, and as the sun was setting on the California coast, he took her down to the beach.

Tanya was curious as to what Adam was doing, but she quickly realized the nature of the visit when they stumbled upon a table and two chairs. The table had two white candles on it and two places set. Beside the table sat a picnic basket. Tanya smiled as Adam pulled out a chair and motioned for her to sit before taking the seat across from her.

"It's beautiful." Tanya commented. It reminded her of what an amazing boyfriend Adam was, which was only going to make what she had to say that night harder.

"Just like the woman I'm with." Adam said with a grin as he reached down and got the food together for dinner.

He and Tanya started eating and a silence came over them. It bothered the green ranger. They had not talked much all day, but he assumed it was because they were going all around Angel Grove and doing things. He thought conversation would flow freely at dinner. However, this meal was eerily quiet. "Is something wrong?" Adam finally spoke up.

"No." Tanya spoke quickly. Although she supposed there was something wrong, something they needed to discuss. She just was not sure how to say it. "I just have a lot on my mind, that's all."

"About what?" Adam questioned. She was his girlfriend; she hoped that she could talk to him about anything.

Tanya sighed as she glanced down at her plate. "About us." She said, finding it hard to make eye contact with her boyfriend.

"What about us?" Adam asked the concern obvious in his voice. "You look, well, depressed. You don't want to break up with me do you?" As the question came out his heart started racing. That could not be it, could it?

"No… well maybe." Tanya said. She glanced up briefly and she could see how crushed the green ranger was. Taking a deep breath, she continued. "It's just that we haven't seen each other in almost a year. I love you Adam but it's hard to keep up a long distance relationship."

"I know it is." Adam replied. They could not end it because she moved to New York. They had to make it work. "But we can call each other more often and maybe visit more. We'll figure something out."

"You know as well as I do that visiting isn't an option. Between recording songs, both of us going to college, and your life as a ranger we barely have time for our in town friends, let alone each other." Tanya replied with a frown. She had thought about this a lot lately. She did not want it to end, but it was heartbreaking to be with him yet not be able to be with him. "The distance is tearing me apart."

"What are you getting at?" Adam questioned. He was not sure if he could bear to hear the answer.

"I," Tanya paused as she sighed. She had to say it, it was now or never. "As much as I hate to say this, I think we should either find a way to be together or end it."

"End it!" Adam exclaimed. He knew this was where the conversation was going yet it still felt as though a dozen arrows just shot through his chest. "I love you Tanya, I don't want to end it."

"I love you too." Tanya replied softly as she made eye contact with him for the first time since the conversation started. She could tell he was hurting as much as she was. It was hard but she knew in her heart that they were going to have to change things somehow if they were going to be happy. "Breaking up would be best, unless you can come up with a better solution before I leave."

"If I do only one thing over the next few weeks it will be figuring out how to keep us together." Adam said, determination flashing in his eyes. "I have never cherished a relationship like this; I'm not going to lose you."

"But Adam"

"No buts." Adam said, interrupting the former ranger. "Just give me time, I'll think of something."

Tanya smiled at him. "You always do." She reached out and cupped her hand over his, giving it a squeeze before retracting her hand and returning to her meal. She and Adam went back to eating in silence, both trying to figure out what the future held for them.

* * *

"US Airways flight 307 to Florida now boarding." A voice spoke through the loudspeakers; a rather chipper voice considering the hour it was in the morning.

"Is that us?" Tommy questioned. He was not completely sure. He was not completely awake and focused yet.

Carri snorted. "I sure hope you're not asking me," she said, pausing briefly to yawn, "Because numbers and words and even my own name don't have meaning yet."

"Yes that's our flight." Jason said gruffly. He was too tired to even bother making a retort back at Carri.

"I can't believe it's only five am." Kat said as she gathered her carry-on bag and stood. The pink ranger was the most chipper of the group. She did not mind the early morning.

"We didn't have much of a choice on flight times, not if we're going to be there in time to see Kim." Jason pointed out. After their Friday night trip to the fair, he sat with Carri and Rocky and researched flights. This was the only one that was not expensive and would get them there before eight that night. Carri bitched, a lot, but seeing as how she was not willing to pay the seven hundred dollars a person for everyone to take the other flight, this was all they had.

"I got it!" Carri exclaimed as they headed toward the gate. "We call Zedd and Rita, get them to attack Miami around one fifteen, then we just stay for the games." It was brilliant. She did not know why she had not thought about it before.

"Why don't you just go on up and have a chat with Zedd. I'm sure he's up for doing you a favor." Rocky said, his words dripping with sarcasm. He glanced at his girlfriend and she replied by rolling her eyes at him.

"She can be our sacrifice." Tommy said a bit too eagerly for Carri's taste. The yellow ranger reached back and smacked the team leader, causing a chuckle to break out among the group. A few seconds later, everyone was laughing, except Tanya and Adam, who had been quiet since their dinner the night before.

They made it up to the counter and one by one, the rangers got their tickets scanned and headed for their seats on the plane. The plane was set up so that there were five seats in a row, three on one side and two on the other. Jason, Rocky and Carri sat together with the yellow ranger in the middle, while Adam and Tanya sat across the aisle from them, and Kat and Tommy sat together behind the duo.

The plane started to move just as the flight attendants were going over the safety features. The rangers did not listen too much of what they had to say. Before they were taking off, the group of superheroes from Angel Grove was fast asleep.

* * *

It was a little after two when the rangers arrived at their destination. The plane landed and they all jumped up, eager to get out and stretch. After the long wait for the other passengers to exit the plane, the rangers finally started moving. Eventually they got off the plane and started scanning the crowd.

"Where is she?" Tommy questioned, his voice trailing off as he looked around for her. He could not wait to see her again.

Carri was the first to spot the former ranger. "Kim!" she yelled, her voice carrying through the crowd as her friend saw her and waved back.

Kim and the girl she was with ran toward the group from Angel Grove. They stopped short right in front of them. Kim glanced at the faces she knew and the one she did not, pausing briefly to look at Tommy before pulling her thoughts together. "It's so good to see you guys!"

"It's good to see you too." Tommy replied with a smile. He locked eyes with her briefly before forcing himself to turn away.

Kim tried to ignore Tommy as she turned toward Carri. "Did you bring the plastic?" She watched as her friend reached into her back pocked and pulled out a credit card. "Good because we are totally going to that shopping mall I told you about after the games." One of the things the two girls had discussed before was favorite places to shop. She knew if she could get Carri out that way she had to take her to some of the coolest places in the area.

"Mall?" Carri questioned, her eyes lighting up. She had not expected that Kim was going to get to show her the south Florida shopping centers, but she was hoping there would be time. "I'm there." She said with a grin as she reached over, hugged her friend, and gave her an official greeting.

The former ranger grinned back at her friend before turning and giving the man next to her a hug. "Hey Rocky, how's it going?"

"Hey." Rocky said as he returned the hug. "It's going pretty good, if I do say so myself." Pretty good as in they had all graduated high school, his high school baseball team won state championships, they were still kicking butt as rangers and they were all going to college together at USC in the fall.

"That's good." Kim replied as she moved down the line and went to give Jason a hug. "Hey Jase, sorry Emily couldn't make it."

"She's sorry too." Jason replied as he returned the hug of the girl he grew up counting as a little sister. "But she said to tell you hello and that she was going to try to meet you soon."

"Well tell her I said hello back." Kim replied. One of these days, she was going to meet Jason's girlfriend. She continued to move down the line and found herself in front of Kat. "Hey," she started, giving her a hug, "have you been keeping everyone in check for me?" she joked.

"I try my best." Kat said with a smile. "But I'm no miracle worker." She joked back with the former pink ranger.

Kim smiled and nodded before turning toward the next person in the group. "Tommy." She greeted with a smile. "It's really good to see you again." She said as she let him go. She started staring at him. She knew she shouldn't, he had a girlfriend standing right there, but she couldn't help it. It was Tommy, the love of her life that she stupidly dumped in a letter.

"It's good to see you too." Tommy replied as he glanced down at her. They were both locked in each other's gazes for a moment before Kim broke it off and went to hug Adam.

"Hey Kim." Adam greeted his former teammate. "How are you?"

"Good." Kim replied as she looked over at the woman standing next to him. "Who is this?"

"I'd like for you to meet my girlfriend, Tanya Salon. She's visiting from New York." Adam quickly introduced her. He hoped that she was going to continue to be his girlfriend for a long time. "Tanya this is Kimberly Hart."

"Nice to meet you." Kim said, extending her hand.

"You too." Tanya replied as she took the outstretched hand and shook it.

Tommy cleared his throat and glanced over at Kim's friend. Kim stuck her tongue out at her former boyfriend. "I was getting to that." She said as she walked back over toward the other gymnast. "This is Kelly; she's competing for Team USA as well. Kelly, meet Carri, Rocky, Jason, Kat, Tommy, Adam and Tanya."

Kelly raised an eyebrow at the mention of Tommy's name. "Hello." She greeted the small group, getting a chorus of hellos in reply.

After a moment of silence, Kim spoke. "Well why are we still standing here?" she asked, grabbing Rocky and Jason's hands. "We have practice to get to." She said as she led the boys off.

"Excuse me but what do you think you're doing grabbing my man's hand?" Carri questioned in a defensive tone, although a tame defensive tone coming from her.

"Don't you remember?" Kim asked, watching as Carri raised an eyebrow in response. She knew the yellow ranger was not really angry with her, at least she didn't think she was. "I'm his woman on the side."

"Oh yeah." Carri replied, grinning as she recalled Kim's visit to Angel Grove and Rocky pretending Kim was his girlfriend on the side. "Sorry about that." She would have continued with the old joke and gone to cozy up to Tommy, but the pink ranger seemed to have quite the grip on her boyfriend's waist at the moment.

"Wait a second here, you're not going to fight for me?" Rocky questioned with mock disappointment.

"Nah." Carri said, shrugging her shoulders. "You're not worth it." She teased.

"I'll fight you for him if you want." Kim said, grinning and shrugging.

"You don't need Rocky." Jason pointed out, stepping in between any mock fight that may have happened. "You've got me." At least this time he was in on their little joke. After seeing their interaction in the Power Chamber, he practically cornered Carri and got her explain.

Kim looked thoughtful for a moment. "You're right." She said before dropping Rocky's hand. The blue ranger reached over and put an arm around his girlfriend, ending the joke for now.

Once they were obviously done with the joke, Kelly spoke up. "So I've heard a lot about you all."

"Coming from Kim?" Tommy questioned, before Kelly could take that thought further. "We had better watch out. Everything she told you is a lie, I promise." He teased.

"Listen here Oliver." Kim stopped mid sentence. She could not come up with a good way to finish that. When they were dating, it would have been easy. She would have teased him a bit and he would have come after her as though he was angry with her, but in the end, they would end up laughing and sharing a kiss. Now it wasn't like that anymore.

"Hey, this is a no fighting zone." Kelly said, gesturing to the space around them. "That means no fighting."

Kat smiled. "That's right. So if you guys want to fight and play around, you just stay over on that side of Kelly and the rest of us will be over here on the normal side." She joked, giving her boyfriend a squeeze as he smiled at her comment. She could hear the protests from Kim, Carri, Jason and Rocky at the thought that they were the not normal side so she tossed in another comment. "No offense, of course."

The group laughed, all except for Adam and Tanya. Kim noticed their silence, and realized that they had been a bit too quiet during their walk through the airport. Both of them had odd looks on their faces as they stared into the distance, deep in thought. "Hey Adam, lighten up, you look like you're going to a funeral." Kim said with a smile. She was hoping the comment would bring them both back to Earth. She wondered what was going on but she knew Adam did not easily talk about things.

At the mention of his name, Adam found himself getting jerked back into reality. "My mind is just on other things." He said, giving what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

"Like what?" Rocky questioned. It was obvious something was bothering his best friend. Adam was never the loud one in the group, but he was never like this either.

"Nothing." Adam replied, hoping that the blue ranger would drop it. He knew that if anybody would know he was hiding something, it was Rocky. They practically grew up together.

Rocky nodded. He was not going to push him too hard in front of all these people, especially someone he did not know. He was definitely going to have to talk to his best friend about whatever was going on with him later.

The group fell silent as they approached the escalator. "Come on guys." Tommy said as he approached the top of the escalator first. "Let's get our stuff and get out of here."

One by one, the group filed onto the escalator, heading down and making their way to the baggage claim. Once all items were collected, they headed out so they could get ready to watch the first night's event.

* * *

"Ok guys, here's the deal." Kim said as they entered the lobby of the building where the gymnast's stayed. "With the games in town, all the hotels were booked. Fortunately I have some very generous gymnast friends who have moved themselves around so that you guys could have a place to stay."

"Not a problem." Tommy replied. He was just happy to be able to be in Florida to see Kim compete. He did not care where they stayed.

"Carri, you're going to stay with me, and Tanya and Kat will be in room five twenty, right down the hall from us." Kim started the explanation. She figured having Kat and Tanya together was the best scenario. She knew they were friends and since she did not know Tanya at all and Carri did not know her well, she thought it would be the most comfortable for everyone that way. "Rocky and Adam, you guys are going to be on the floor below us in four forty-six, and Tommy, you and Jason will be in four forty-five."

"So where's the gym?" Kat questioned, wondering where it was that the event was going to be held.

"We have a practice gym adjacent to this building. You take a left, go down the hall and through the door conveniently labeled gym. Then go down the stairs, through the door at the bottom and you're there." Kelly spoke, answering part of Kat's question. "It's coach's way of keeping us in check." She added. She hated having the practice gym that close to the dorms, they never could get away with anything. "For the competition we're going to be at the coliseum, which is about ten minutes from here."

Carri shook her head. "He's keeping you guys a bit too close for comfort." Although the gymnasts had it a bit better off than they did during state championships. Their coach had a room in the same hallway as the players. And at ten sharp every night he knocked on all the doors, doing a head count and evacuating people who were not assigned to that room. She and Rocky had taken turns sneaking from one room back to the one they belonged in.

"Trust me, we know." Kim assured her. "So we're going to get you guys settled in and then we have practice. Kelly can take the girls up and I'll settle the guys in." Kim paused and glanced over at the current yellow ranger. "Care to join me?"

"Sure." Carri said, flashing Kim a smile.

"Well come on then, let's go." Rocky said as he glanced over toward the elevators.

Kim led her group over toward the elevators. She took everyone and their luggage in the first elevator, while Kelly and the others waited for the next elevator. As the three girls stood there waiting, Tanya turned toward the pink ranger. "I'm surprised Kim didn't ask you to go with her. After all, you've known her longer."

"Yeah." Kat said absentmindedly, a hint of sadness in her voice. She did not know what her relationship was with Kim. Although she could tell what her cousin's was becoming. "Apparently they had one of those instant friendships."

Tanya immediately noticed the tone in her friend's voice. "Sounds like I hit on something." She said as Kat frowned. "You know if you need to talk, I'm here."

The pink ranger quickly shifted tones. "No, thank you, but everything is fine."

Tanya nodded briefly. She knew Kat would talk to her when she was ready. Before she could say anything else, the elevator dinged open and the three girls headed in.

* * *

Later that night, the rangers headed into the coliseum and took their seats. "So this is the team competition?" Tommy questioned as he made himself comfortable.

"Welcome to the Pan Global games." The announcer's voice boomed across the speakers. "Tonight is the women's gymnastics team competition."

"Nevermind." Tommy said with a grin. He saw his girlfriend chuckle before she put her arm around him.

"First up tonight are the Russians on the bars, the Australians on the beam, the Germans on the floor and the French on the vault." The announcer continued as the teams moved into position and started warming up to get ready.

"Fish girl!" Carri exclaimed as she pointed toward Russian gymnast Svetlana Khorkina. Her appearance was one of the things that stuck with her when looking at promos for the event.

"What?" Rocky questioned, quite confused with his girlfriend's reaction.

Carri rolled her eyes. She found the answer to be obvious. "With all her makeup on, she looks like one of those cartoon fish." She said as she gestured toward her. "Just look at her."

Rocky took one long look before he started to laugh. Carri was right. The Russian gymnast did resemble a cartoon fish.

The green ranger glanced down at his best friend. "What?" he asked, trying to figure out what the joke was that he obviously was not in on.

"Carri's cartoon fish theory." Rocky said simply, without offering any further explanation.

Adam raised an eyebrow. That explanation made no sense to him. "Um… no comment." He finally said, figuring he was probably better off leaving that one be.

"Let me tell ya." Carri said as she made a face. "That's the story of my life. No comment." She said, simply babbling with no purpose.

"What are you talking about?" Jason asked, having only picked up on the very end of that conversation.

Carri shrugged. "Honestly? I have no clue." She replied.

The former gold ranger snorted in response as the competition started. The group from Angel Grove was quiet as they watched the first four countries compete. Once the first set of four teams completed each event, the Chinese, Ukrainians, Romanians and Koreans came on to compete. After those four teams finished, it was finally time for the group of Americans to take their turn.

As the Americans approached the floor, Tommy whistled. "Come on Kim!" he cheered as loudly as he could

The former pink ranger was the first member of the American team to take a crack at the floor. The crowd grew silent as competition started up again. She spent ninety seconds doing a routine to a song her coach picked out. When she was done, she threw her hands up in the air triumphantly. A few minutes later, her score of 9.85 was announced.

The rangers cheered for the score that was the beginning of a strong run by the American team. When it was all said and done, they came in first, blowing away second place Romania and third place Russia.

They waited around through the medal ceremony and the conversation with the press before the rangers went down to greet Kim. Tommy was the first one to say something. "That was great!" he exclaimed as they approached.

"I don't think I could have done better myself." Carri said, grinning wickedly at Kim who chuckled in response.

"Better?" Jason repeated, raising an eyebrow. "I think you would have done much, much worse."

The yellow ranger rolled her eyes. "I know that. And you know that." She said as she glared over at him. "And we're going to keep it our little secret." As she finished speaking, she turned toward Kim. "Seriously though, you killed it out there."

"Thanks guys." Kim said with a smile. She was so thrilled that the ranger team had come to cheer her on. It meant a lot to her. "But I couldn't have done it without the rest of my team." She added.

"Exactly." Rocky said with a goofy look on his face. "That's why, on behalf of the city of Angel Grove, I'd like to thank everyone who participated in the event and did their best, scoring high enough for the United States of America to be able to outscore everyone else and bring home the gold medal."

Tanya raised her eyebrow and looked over toward her former teammate. "Are you done now?"

"Yes." Rocky said with a nod. "I think that covers it."

"Good." Tanya replied, smiling over at him. "Because if you weren't finish I was going to have to shut you up." She joked.

"Kim, we're all proud of you." Kat said as she smiled at the former ranger. Kat had once pushed her toward not giving up this dream, now she had a medal to show for it. Despite her feelings toward the way Kim and Tommy acted around each other, she was still happy for her. "The team couldn't have won without you."

"Come on, let's go celebrate." Tommy said as he put his arm around Kim, completely oblivious to the look he was getting from his girlfriend.

"Not so fast!" Kim's coach called from behind them. He was not about to let one of his gymnast spend a night out on the town in the middle of the competition. "We have practice from eight until two, and then we have to report back here for individual event finals tomorrow at five."

Tommy frowned. "I guess we'll just head back then." He said. The group quickly shuffled toward the exit so that they could head toward the dorms to try to get some rest.

* * *

Around one thirty the next day, Adam and Tanya found themselves walking through the gym, stopping around the area where Kim was practicing. "So Adam, have you."

The green ranger cut his girlfriend off before she could finish. He knew where this was going. "Not yet."

Tanya frowned. "Adam, I know you said you could think of something, but don't you think it would be easier on us to end it now rather than suffer through a last minute sloppy break up?" If they ended it now, maybe they could at least work on repairing their friendship before she left. She still wanted to be friends with Adam, even if they weren't dating.

"Maybe you're right." Adam said as he thought her words over. "But I really believe I can come up with the answer." He was not going to lose her, not like this.

"I want to be friends Adam and I'm afraid that won't happen." Tanya voiced her earlier thoughts aloud. "These awkward silences that are suddenly occurring between us are killing me. It never used to be like this."

"I don't want to just be friends." Adam said the frustration in his voice clear. "I want us to be together. I love you."

"I love you too." Tanya said simply. She closed her eyes briefly, sighing before opening them again. "I'm not sure how much longer we'll last if we continue like this."

"We have to make it last." Adam said. Panic over their situation shot through him and he continued. "I have to make it last. We love each other. This… this isn't fair."

"I know." Tanya said softly as she glanced up at him. "Believe me, I know."

A wave of silence came over them before Adam started heading toward the door. The former ranger watched him walk off, not sure, if she should chase him or not. "Where are you going?" she called out.

"I need some fresh air." Adam replied. He needed time to think, time to work this out with himself.

"I'll be in my room if you want to talk." Tanya said as she turned and walked away. She barely noticed Tommy pass her as she headed back toward the dorms.

The red ranger saw that Tanya was upset with something, but he decided not to pursue it. He had another reason for coming down here that day. He glanced around the gym and found the person he was looking for as she jumped off the beam and went to grab some water. "Hey beautiful." He called out. He did not know why he called her beautiful. He did it all the time when they were together, and she was still beautiful, but the time for that to be appropriate had long since passed.

Kim turned sharply as she heard Tommy call out to her. Her heart jumped from her chest at the greeting. She gave it a second to calm before replying. "Hey Tommy!"

"How is practice going?" he asked. He had a million things to say to her, he supposed this was the best way to start.

"Pretty good." Kim replied. She thought she was set for the night's events.

"That's good." Tommy said as the nerves washed over him. He did not know why he was asking. He shouldn't ask, it was only going to upset him. However, he was here with her in Florida. He had to know. "So, I'm just going to come out and ask this. Which one is he?"

"Which one is who?" Kim questioned, genuinely confused.

"The guy you dumped me for." Tommy replied. He had assumed that what he was asking would have been obvious.

"Oh." Kim said, feeling a flush in her cheeks, as she turned around embarrassed. When she invited them to come watch her compete, she never though Tommy would actually ask that question.

Tommy walked over toward her. "What's wrong?" he asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. He started to wonder if she didn't want to tell him, if she was afraid of what his reaction might be.

Kim turned back around and right into his arms. This was her favorite position to be in, yet she had no right to be there. She sighed. There was so much to talk about. Perhaps it was the time to tell Tommy the truth. "There was no other man." She admitted.

"What?" Tommy questioned, a rush of emotions flooding him. "But in the letter you said"

"I just said that as an excuse to break up with you." Kim spat out quickly, interrupting him as tears started forming in her eyes. She stepped away from Tommy and brushed them away. She did not want to break down like this.

"But why?" Tommy asked, genuinely confused. He felt as though she was breaking his heart all over again. "I thought we had a great relationship."

"We did." Kim said as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She did not know if he would understand why she did what she did. She did not even know if she understood it. However, she had to explain. "I know what happened with Kat while I was there; I know how much she wanted you. I figured with me gone she would move in. I didn't want to be in your way if Kat was whom you wanted, or for you to feel guilty cheating on me. I did what I thought was best. In the end I guess I was right, you ended up with her."

"I ended up with her because she was the one who was there for me when you broke my heart. She was nice and pretty and she cared about me and I fell for her." Tommy said. Before Kim broke up with him, he did not pay that much attention to Kat, not as a girlfriend anyway. He knew Kat liked him, but he was firmly with Kimberly. "Before you broke up with me, I never had eyes for anyone but you. I love you and I would have never cheated on you. You are the one I want to grow old with. But that's all in the past now."

Kim mentally kicked herself for pushing Kat and Tommy together. She ruined everything, it was the stupidest thing she had ever done in her life. She took a moment to think over the red ranger's words and something stood out. "You talk like it's here and now, not in the past."

Tommy turned to leave. "I shouldn't be here." He said. He was with Kat now, yet he still loved Kim. It was not right; he should not have let himself get in this situation.

"Tommy don't go." Kim pleaded as she reached out and grabbed his shoulder, turning him around. She did not know why she did it; she should just let him leave, let him return to his girlfriend so that she could be alone like she deserved to be.

"Look at me." Tommy said, smiling in an attempt to lighten the mood. "I feel like an idiot. Here I am, sharing my feelings and interrupting your practice."

"Don't be so hard on yourself. I feel the same way." Kim told him. She still loved him she would always love him. The hardest thing she ever did was let him go. "I hated myself forever after the letter." She said with a frown. When Tommy did not say anything, Kim took that as her cue to leave. "I should get back to practice. I shouldn't be with you; I'm ruining your relationship."

The former pink ranger could not hold back any longer. A few tears started running down her cheeks. Tommy took a step toward her and wiped them away. He could not stand to see her hurting. He still loved her, and now he knew she still loved him. Without thinking, he leaned in and brought her lips to his.

His lips skimmed hers briefly at first, kissing her gently. That action sent all reason out the window. The moment their lips connected, he was reminded of the past, of the girl in front of him and of the love he had for her. He wanted to kiss her, he needed to kiss her. He kissed her again, this time more frantically than the first. Then he felt Kim's fingers come up to his cheeks, brushing them gently and it calmed him. Without realizing what was going on, they started to kiss again. This kiss was full of passion and both parties became frozen in the moment. They were so wrapped up in each other that neither noticed Kat come in. As the pink ranger saw her boyfriend kissing his ex she gasped, covering her mouth before running off.

Seconds later Tommy pulled back. "I shouldn't be doing this. I… I don't know what I'm doing." It was hard for him to pull back, pull away from Kim. He wanted nothing more than to swoop her into his arms and take her upstairs, picking up where they left off. The big glaring red flag that was holding him back was the fact that he had a girlfriend, a girlfriend that he cared about. It was not right.

"I really need to get back to practice." Kim said, turning and rushing off. What had she done? What had they done? She thought she was doing what was best for him. She thought he was happy with Kat. But now… now things were all screwed up.

Tommy moved to sit on the stairs where he could watch Kim practice and try to get his thoughts in order.

* * *

Carri was heading down the hallway when she ran into Kat. "Hey." She greeted her cousin. "I was just going down to watch the end of practice then Kim and I were going to go get lunch. Care to join us?" It might be fun for all the ranger girls to go out.

"What is this, a pity invitation?" Kat spoke with a bit more acid than she intended as the tears fell freely. "I don't want to bust in on yours and Kim's little party. You two probably wouldn't want to have anything to do with me anyway."

"What are you talking about?" Carri questioned, completely and utterly confused as the tears started falling faster. Kat simply frowned in response then tore off. "Kat wait!"

Her first impulse was to chase her cousin down. Then again, Kat did not seem as though she wanted anything to do with her right now. She supposed it was best to leave her be until she was ready to talk. Besides, maybe she could get answers elsewhere.

The yellow ranger headed off, eventually making her way down the stairs where she practically tripped over her team's leader. Making a face, she sat down next to him. "So, what's up?" she asked the obviously distressed red ranger. "Any reason you're hiding back here instead of out there?"

Tommy looked like he was snapping back from a deep trance. "I kissed her." He said without thinking about it. "I told her I still love her, and she still loves me, and we kissed."

"Oh." Carri replied, Kat's actions suddenly becoming clear. "So then Kat saw you which is why she's freaking out." And rightfully so. She just caught her boyfriend kissing another woman.

A horrified look crossed Tommy's face. "You mean she saw us?" he questioned. It was bad enough that it happened, but for Kat to see… it simply was not fair to any of them.

"You didn't see her?" Carri questioned, watching as Tommy shook his head no in reply. "All I know is I ran into her in the hallway and at the mention of Kim's name, she went off on me."

Tommy leaned down and put his head in his hands. "I screwed up." He said to himself. How could he let this happen? "I screwed it all up."

Carri frowned as she put an arm around him. Heartfelt cheer up speeches was not her specialty, but she would give it a try. "I know this looks bad now, but things will work themselves out. You need time to think. So does Kim, so does Kat. Most importantly, once Kat cools down you two need to talk."

"And we need to figure it all out before we leave." Tommy said groaning.

"There's not going to be an obvious answer overnight." Carri said snorting. She smacked herself as she did; realizing that being herself was not going to make Tommy feel better. "What I'm saying is these sorts of things take a while to figure out. You're going to need space and you're going to need time."

"I need time to think." Tommy said as he sat up. "I'm going back to my room. I'll talk to you later."

Carri watched the red ranger jog up the stairs. "Bye." She called out after him. She stood up and headed over toward the stands, making herself comfortable until Kim was free to go.

The yellow ranger started to focus on her friend's practice. She frowned as she watched her finish up. It was obvious that something was bothering her. She was shaken and she was not paying a lot of attention to what she was doing. Carri was trying to gather answers just by watching her but she got pulled away from her thoughts when someone put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey you." Rocky greeted as he slid into the seat next to her.

Carri slid her arm around her boyfriend and gave him a kiss. "Hey." She returned the greeting before leaning back toward her seat and sighing.

"What?" Rocky questioned, not missing the sigh that escaped her lips.

Carri stayed silent for a moment before answering. "You ever think two people were meant for each other?" She was not really one to believe in love at first sight or soul mates or any of that. However, she did believe that two people who loved each other would end up together. At one point, she thought perhaps Kat was meant to be with Tommy. However she had seen Tommy look at Kim, knew how Kim sounded when Tommy's name was mentioned. After today, this kiss, if they did still love each other maybe they were meant for each other.

"Ok." Rocky said, making a face. His girlfriend usually was not the one to say stuff like that. "May I ask what brought this on?"

"You'll find out soon enough." Carri said, a bit of mystery in her voice as she glanced over at Kim. It really was not a secret, especially since Kat had caught them in the act. However, she wanted to get all the details from Kim before she started telling the story to everyone else.

The blue ranger followed her glance until he noticed the gymnast she was watching. "Wait a minute." He said as a thought occurred to him. "Tommy and Kim… together?" It would make her odd question make sense. Although Carri did not have experience with Tommy and Kim as a couple, everyone who had served with them would have thought they were meant to be together. The letter shocked all the rangers, past and present, as they had not thought Kim would ever do that in a million years.

"Something like that." Carri replied. She was not sure if they were getting back together. Tommy did not sound like he knew what was going on. If it was that cut and dry, he would have dumped Kat right then and gone back to Kim.

"But what about Kat?" Rocky asked as he thought over what this revelation meant. Tommy still had feelings for Kat; he could tell when he struggled so badly to ask her to Ernie's Hawaiian party. Even if he and Kim still loved each other, he knew Tommy would not want to hurt Kat.

Carri shrugged. "Tommy's got a lot of things to work out before we can say anything to anybody." She honestly did not know what their leader was going to do.

The coach called an end to the gymnastics practice and Rocky stood. "I'm going to get going. I don't want to impose on your lunch." He said, watching as his girlfriend stood as well.

"Alright." She said as she leaned in and gave him a kiss. "I'll talk to you later."

She watched as Rocky jogged down and headed out before turning to search for her friend. Upon noticing that the gymnasts had already gone into the locker room, she headed over to stand by the door and wait. A few minutes later Kim emerged, fully dressed and ready to go. "Shall we get out of here?" Carri asked.

"Yes." Kim replied as she walked toward the building's exit with Carri. She was hoping maybe some fresh air would help. She couldn't focus on gymnastics; she could not put her mind on anything but Tommy.

They headed out the exit, with Kim unusually quiet. As they hit the sidewalk, Carri decided it was time to get her to spill. "What's bothering you?"

"It's…" Kim paused. She didn't know what to say. I kissed my ex-boyfriend, who happens to be dating your cousin now? It was complicated and she wasn't sure if she could really explain it right. "It's nothing." She lied.

"Look, Kim, I know." Carri said, watching as a shocked expression crossed Kim's face. "I passed Tommy on my way down. He told me what happened."

"Then I guess you do know." Kim said with a sigh. However, how much she knew, or how much she really knew, she was not sure. "It's all kind of complicated. I know you know a bit of what happened before, but, well, here's the story."

Carri nodded briefly. She was glad that she and Kim were going to talk about it. She never really asked about the letter or about her relationship with Tommy. To be honest she wanted to leave that in the past. Tommy was heartbroken by the letter and Carri was not sure how she felt about the former ranger that she had never met. Then Tommy and Kat got together, and Tommy was really happy when Kim came to visit so she decided she'd let it slide. She did not want to dig up the past by asking questions about something that did not matter. The only time they talked about Tommy was in relation to current events. Although she never doubted from the way Kim asked about him that she still loved him.

Kim took a deep breath before she spoke. "Kat moved to town and was put under a spell by Rita, that part you know. What she may not have told you was that part of what fueled her desire of wanting to get me out of the picture was her interest in Tommy. She started to get close to Tommy and that kind of made me jealous. I knew Tommy would not cheat, so I ignored those feelings and I started working hard on gymnastics. Eventually Kat became good, I went to Florida, and Kat took my place."

Kim paused for a second before continuing her story. "So I came to Florida knowing that Kat was interested in Tommy. Tommy and I barely had time to catch up, and we never saw each other. I didn't want to be in his way if he wanted Kat, and I didn't want him to cheat on me, so I wrote him a letter telling him I had someone else even though I didn't. Today he confronted me about it and he said he still loved me and I said I still loved him and we still loved each other and we kissed, oh my gosh we kissed and we shouldn't..."

"Calm down." Carri spoke quickly, interrupting her friend. Kim's speech had been getting faster and faster and it started to blur together at the end. "Let's talk about this rationally. So you and Tommy kissed. Why?"

"Because," Kim paused as she thought about it, "because we still love each other." That is what it boiled down to. They loved each other as much as they did a year ago. Before Carri could reply, she continued. "It's not fair. It's not fair to me or to Tommy and it's especially not fair to Kat."

"So then do you want to get back together with Tommy?" Carri asked, ignoring the part of whether or not it was fair. It was a simple question. Did they want to date again or not? Of course she knew there was going to be more that factored into that decision than what they wanted.

"I do." Kim replied. Maybe it was selfish but she knew that is what she wanted more than anything. "I'm pretty sure it's what he wants too. But then there's Kat."

The yellow ranger nodded. The dilemma was an obvious one."Kat's my cousin and I love her, I want her to be happy. But you and Tommy… I think you guys were meant to be together."

Kim nodded as she thought about her comment. She felt like she was right, but that did not make things any better. "I don't know what I'm going to do!" she exclaimed.

"I'm sure Tommy is working on a really good idea as we speak." At least she hoped that he was.

"I know this sounds selfish, but I hope it puts me and him together." Kim said with a sigh. How did something so simple turn into such a mess? She loved Tommy; she never should have broken up with him. This was all her fault.

"We all put our own needs first sometimes." Carri replied with a shrug. She didn't find it selfish at all.

Kim smiled as she opened the door to the local sub shop. She was feeling a bit better now that she got everything off her chest. She was glad she had someone here she could talk to. "I'm America's best gymnast. My needs always come first." She joked.

Carri laughed at her friend as they entered the restaurant. She was happy that she was brightening up a bit. She hoped that her good mood would last, and that she would be able to perform well in tonight's competition. She tried not to think about that too much as she and Kim headed off to order lunch.

* * *

Jason, Carri and Rocky were the last three to arrive at the individual event finals that night. They saw Adam and Tanya sitting together. They looked like porcelain dolls, that if they moved they would break. Neither one of them was talking, but they still looked better than Tommy and Kat. The pink ranger sat on the far end by Tanya, and the former yellow ranger along with Adam and three empty chairs separated her from the team's leader.

"Hey bro, how's it going?" Jason asked as he sat down beside Tommy. After her conversation with Kim, Carri had filled him and Rocky in on the little bit she knew of the situation. It only took two days in Florida for a mess to get made out of everything.

"I'm afraid it has stopped." Tommy replied with a sigh. He had not spoken to his girlfriend all night. He did not know what to say, he did not know what the answers to her unasked questions were.

Carri sat down beside Jason and Rocky filled in the seat beside her just as the event finals were getting started. "Looks like we're just in time." Rocky commented as the first gymnast started floor exercise routine.

While watching the events it became painfully obvious that, unlike the day before, Kim's performances were not up to par. The floor exercise was just the beginning of a long night with a struggle to earn any medals. She managed to walk away with a silver medal on the beam and a bronze on the floor, but on the bars she finished fourth and she barely cracked top ten with her vault.

The moment the night was over, Tommy excused himself. The red ranger was trying to avoid any confrontation with Kat or Kim. He left the building as quickly as he could and headed back toward the place where they were staying.

Kat stuck around for a while until the others headed down to talk to Kim. "It was bad enough I had to watch her." She muttered. She almost did not show up. She did not want to cheer on the girl that just kissed her boyfriend. She felt like she had to make an appearance, but she did not have to stay. Before the others could say anything, she took off as well.

Kim was frowning when the others made their way toward her. "It's ok." Jason said, trying to comfort her. He had a lot he really wanted to say, but none of it that he thought should be said in front of all these people. "Tomorrow is a new day. You're going to take the gold easy."

"Thanks Jase." Kim said with a smile. She appreciated the words; although they did not make the subject that was on her mind go away. The others started saying similar words of encouragement, but she really was not in the mood to hear them. "I really need to get some sleep." She interrupted them. Maybe she could sort things out on her own so that she would be fresh for tomorrow. "Instead of hanging around tonight, I should get back to my room."

"No problem." Rocky replied. He knew she had a lot on her mind. He hoped that by tomorrow Tommy could figure something out so that she could salvage her final day.

"Thanks guys." Kim said, flashing them a reassuring smile. She then led the group out of the coliseum. They silently followed her as they all caught a ride back to the dorms. Nobody had anything to say during their ride, Adam and Tanya were caught up in their own problems, and Jason, Rocky and Carri were worried about Kim's problems. When they arrived, they all said goodnight briefly before everyone headed up to their rooms and went to sleep.

* * *

At eleven thirty the next day, Tanya went to wake her friend up. She was worried; Kat never slept that late unless she was sick. "Kat?" she questioned softly as she touched her shoulder.

Kat's eyes fluttered open as she looked at her friend. "Leave me alone please." She requested. She did not want to be bothered, she simply wanted to sit in her room and sulk all day. Was that too much to ask?

"What's wrong?" Tanya asked, refusing to leave her alone. Either she was really ill or something was seriously bothering her, either way she intended to find out. "Are you sick?"

"I wish it was that simple." Kat said. The image of Tommy kissing Kim popped up in her mind and a tear slid down her cheek.

"I always thought that we were best friends." Tanya said as she watched Kat brush away her tears. "I would hope you could tell me what's going on."

Kat sat up in her bed and looked at Tanya. She was right they were best friends, and she did need to talk to someone. "It's so hard to talk about." She said as the tears pushed forward again. Without warning, she started to bawl.

The former yellow ranger put her arm around her friend. "You can talk to me, I'm here for you." She assured her. She could not understand what had gotten the usually perky Kat so upset.

Kat continued to cry for a few minutes. Once her cries turned in to sniffles, she was able to calm down enough to tell her story. "You remember when I told you Kim came to Angel Grove?"

"Yes." Tanya replied. She had told her a bit about those few days.

"Well what I didn't tell you was that almost everything went wrong while she was here." Kat had not wanted to talk about it; she wanted to pretend that it was a nice visit and that everything had gone well. "I was captured by Tengas and held captive by Rita and Zedd. The others lost their powers and they had to go on a quest. Since I was not there Kim took my place on the quest, she went to gather the pink power, and she received the pink crystal necklace thing, a crystal necklace that would only glow for her. In fact, because the stupid crystals would only glow for six people in the whole entire world Tommy gave Kim his piece. You do know what necklace I'm talking about, she had it on a few times and Carri usually has hers on but it's blue and yellow, and it now seems like I'm the only one without one, but anyway so now she has the pink and red pieces which is like putting her and Tommy together which is like..."

"I don't mean to interrupt, but I think you're getting a little off topic." Tanya said, trying to steer her back to the point. She understood why she was upset. She would be too if it was Adam and his ex.

Kat took a deep breath before continuing. "So the temporary ranger team, which included Tommy and Kim together, went on this quest. As a result, Kim got to be the pink Zeo ranger, and Tommy and Kim got to be together a lot. Afterwards Tommy assured me that he loved me. He promised me he loved me." She thought he was telling the truth. Now she was not so sure.

"But he does love you." Tanya pointed out. She had seen him around her these last few days. It was obvious there was something there.

"Then how come when I went to see Tommy yesterday and watch Kim's practice, I caught the two of them kissing as though I didn't even exist?"

Tanya did not know how to respond to that question. "I'm sorry." She finally said. "Are the two of them getting back together?" She hoped they were not; she did not want Kat to lose the man she had wanted forever.

"I… I…" Kat stuttered between sniffles. Then suddenly she got very quiet, wiping the tears out of her eyes as a new level of determination washed over her. "I won't let that happen. She dumped him and he asked me out, therefore he is my boyfriend now."

Tanya smiled. "That's the attitude."

"Come on." Kat said as she threw her covers off of herself. "Let's go somewhere."

"Where?" Tanya asked.

"Wherever the day takes us." She replied as she jumped out of bed. "I'm going to get ready, and then we'll take off."

"Sounds good to me." Tanya replied, watching as her friend headed off to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

* * *

Kim was taking a water break when Tommy slipped into the gym. Taking a deep breath, he headed over toward her. "Do you have a minute?" he asked as he approached.

The former ranger made a face. She did not really want to talk to him, not now, not after their last conversation made such a mess of things. "Tonight's a big night and I really need to practice so."

"This won't take long I promise." Tommy cut her off before she could excuse herself from the conversation. He watched as she sighed before giving him her full attention. Once she was ready, he spoke. "I did a lot of thinking last night. I wanted to have something to tell you so you wouldn't do poorly again, and I wanted to give Kat an explanation one way or the other."

"And?" Kim questioned, her heart practically leaping out of her chest. She wanted him to say "and I choose you", but then there was still a part of her that did not think it was fair to ask that of him.

"And I decided that as much as I want to, and believe me it's a lot, that as long as you're in Florida we shouldn't have a relationship." Tommy wanted Kim more than anything. However, Kim was a gymnast and she was always going to be training toward the next competition. There was not any room for a relationship.

Kim turned away for a second, frowning. She knew that was the right answer, but she did not have to like it. Collecting herself, she turned back toward Tommy. "I suppose you're right. After all, that was what prompted me to write the letter." Things would not change. She'd still be in Florida and he'd still be back in Angel Grove with Kat, who he was going to see every day, who would still love him and who he would still have feelings for thanks to her and that letter. "But I… I still love you Tommy."

"I love you too Kim." Tommy replied. It was hard to have to do this. However, so much has changed since she wrote that letter, to the point where they cannot simply go back to the way things were. "I don't want to be forced into the same situation. As long as you're in Florida, this is the way our relationship will be."

"What about Kat?" Kim asked, not sure if she wanted to hear the answer. "Are you going to try to get back together with her?"

"I'm going to try." Tommy replied honestly. Since their ski trip, he had developed feelings for Kat. He knew he crushed her by kissing Kim and he wanted to do what was right for her, for them. "But I'm going to tell her that I'm not looking for a serious relationship. I see a future with you Kim, and I don't want to hurt Kat. I do care about her, and I would like to continue a casual relationship." He was not sure it was fair to ask that of Kat. However, he was going to let her make her own decision. He enjoyed being with her, although it was different from what he felt with Kim. "I do want you to know that I will never stop loving you."

"I understand." Kim replied. It was not fair of her to ask him to leave Kat while they were still separated. Even if they loved each other as long as she was still in Florida training for gymnastics they were not together, they were not dating. She could not ask him to be lonely for a few more years while she pursued this. It was not fair to him or to Kat. If he stayed with the pink ranger and if he changed his mind about her in a few years… well that was her own fault for breaking up with him in the first place. "Just know that there is no one in Florida I love, just you."

"One day you and I will be able to be together." He promised her. Today was not that day and they both knew it. "One day there won't be anything separating us, not distance or daily activities or significant others, imaginary or real." He watched Kim crack a smile at that last part. "One day it will just be you and me."

"I'll be waiting for that day Tommy." Kim said as she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek, before turning and heading back to practice. It was not the way she wanted it to go, but it was the right thing to do. If their love was as strong as she thought it was, one day they would be together again.

Tommy sighed as he watched her go. Once she started practicing again, he headed outside where he ran into Kat and Tanya. "Kat, hey." He greeted, knowing that it was now or never.

"Hello Tommy." Kat replied, her voice a bit colder than she intended.

"We need to talk." Tommy said. He was fairly certain she felt the same way.

"I'm heading back to my room." Tanya said, quickly excusing herself. "I'll talk to you later."

The red ranger started walking with Kat following beside him. He sighed as he started to speak. This was not going to be easy. "I know it hurt you a lot when you saw me kissing Kim."

"Yes you did. It hurt me more than you know." Kat replied. She did not want to make him feel any guiltier than he already did, but he needed to know how she felt. "You told me once that what you two had was done and over with."

"I know I did. And I thought it was." Tommy assured her. He never thought that there was ever a chance for him to be with Kim again. "Then when I confronted Kim about the mysterious man in the letter she told me she made it up, that she still loved me."

Kat hesitated for a moment before asking her next question. "Do you still love her?"

He thought for a moment about how to say it so that it would not hurt Kat's feelings, but he did not think there was anything to do but spit it out. "Yes I do."

Kat glanced down at the ground. She was afraid of that answer. "So I guess this is our breakup conversation. You're leaving me for her."

"Not exactly. It's complicated." Tommy replied, watching, as Kat looked up at him confused. "Kim and I both know we can't be together, not while she's still here in Miami and I'm in Angel Grove. That was why I wanted to patch things up with you."

"Seriously?" Kat questioned, not believing that Tommy actually thought she would go along with that. "You can't be with Kim, so you come crawling back to me until Kim is available?"

Tommy made a frustrated noise as he kicked a rock. It did not come out quite like he had intended it to. "That's not it. I have feelings for you too, feelings that have grown stronger in the last few months. I love you too, it's just that." Tommy stopped short and sighed. He did not know how to explain it without sounding like a complete ass.

"I think I understand." Kat replied with a sigh. "You loved Kim and she dumped you. Feelings like that just don't disappear. Now that you know that she still loves you it reminds you that you love her… that you love her more than you'll ever love me."

"I'm sorry Kat." Tommy said softly. "That doesn't mean that the feelings aren't there with you, that I don't care about you. I do care and I do enjoy spending time with you. I am not with Kim right now we are still broken up. I did want to try to have a casual relationship with you, as long as you understand that it's not going to get serious."

Kat frowned. She understood what he was saying. He was not with Kim and he enjoyed spending time with her. More than anything in this world, she wanted to date him. She was in love with Tommy Oliver from the moment she laid eyes on him. It was a long road before he ever noticed her. Maybe she could have a casual relationship with him. They could still date, kiss, and enjoy each other's company. Who knows, maybe Kim will move on. After all, she has a few more good years left in the gymnastics world. Of course there was still a chance that she and Tommy will grow so close he will realize that she is the one he loves the most. She knew the situation, knew what the risks were. However, there was still a shot that things would end the way she wanted them to, so it was worth a try.

"I'd like to have a casual relationship with you." She finally replied after quickly weighing the pros and cons.

Tommy nodded. He was glad that she was willing to still be with him on some level. "You know Kat, if I hadn't asked Kim out, there would be no one to hold a candle to you in my heart."

"So this entire thing is your fault?" Kat asked as she raised an eyebrow and giggled.

Tommy simply shrugged in response and Kat started to laugh, which eventually led to Tommy's own laughter. Once they calmed down Tommy reached over and brought her into a hug. "I'm sorry. About all this."

"It's ok." Kat replied as he let go of her. She slipped his hand in hers. "Let's keep walking." She suggested.

The two of them then spent the rest of the afternoon wondering around the town, returning to the dorms just in time to get ready to head off to watch the night's event.

* * *

Carri moved to the edge of her seat as the all around competition was winding down. "This is close."

"Come on Kim!" Jason yelled as she prepared to start her balance beam routine.

"It's going to come down to the last event." Adam pointed out. The scores among the top three were neck and neck. Kim had to be perfect here.

"I know Kim can do it." Kat said, her cheering for the former ranger a complete one eighty from the night before.

Carri glanced down at her cousin for the thousandth time that night. She was sitting next to Tommy, and the duo seemed rather cozy all things considering. She did not know what happened, but she figured she would find out soon enough. She knew one thing was certain. As long as Tommy and Kim were alive, it was not over between the two of them.

Pushing that thought away, she focused on Kim's routine. She watched as the former pink ranger went back and forth on the beam, eventually dismounting and proudly throwing her hands up after a nearly flawless routine.

"It's all up to the judges now." Tanya said. Kim's routine was the last one of the night. They would know soon enough if she won.

"Here it comes." Jason said anxiously as the judges started to announce her score.

The numbers popped up on the board and a wave of excitement rushed over the rangers. "I don't believe it!" Carri exclaimed.

"She won by a tenth of a point!" Tommy yelped. He could not be happier for her.

The rangers sat, eagerly waiting for a chance to talk to Kim. After the presentation of the medals, the press bombarded her. Finally, there was an opening and the group from Angel Grove headed down to see their friend.

"Way to go Kim!" Jason said as he swooped her up into a hug.

"We all had faith in you." Kat told her with a smile.

"Thanks guys." Kim said as she glanced briefly at Kat before looking over at Tommy. The red ranger nodded to answer her unspoken question. She tried not to show any disappointment. She and Tommy still loved each other and she put herself in this situation, she was going to have to deal with it.

"Tonight we celebrate." Tommy said, trying to move past the brief moment of awkwardness.

"Yes, there's no practice tomorrow so we can party tonight." Kim replied with a grin before turning toward Carri. "Then we'll go celebrate at the mall tomorrow. And the next day. And most likely the day after that." She said pausing. "Well maybe not all those days but we're definitely going to party while shopping."

Carri grinned at the thought of taking on the Miami malls. "That's going to be a big expensive party." Fortunately for her, her father overlooked her clothes expenses. Especially since she was pretty good at getting the most outfits for her money.

"You guys, I hate to be the one to burst your bubble, but you can't spend Monopoly money at the mall." Rocky pointed out as he teased the girls. He knew that both of them were fortunate and both had parents that would pay the bills.

Kim and Carri looked at each other and pouted. "We can't?" Kim questioned.

"But that's why Rocky was going to give us money." Carri joked as she reached her hand into Rocky's pocket, fishing for his wallet.

Rocky grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand out. "Oh no you don't." he said quickly.

Carri raised her eyebrow, taking his words as some sort of challenge. "I can and I will."

"Don't make me start tickling you again." Rocky threatened with a grin.

"Fine." She said with a sigh, making a face before smiling at putting an arm around her boyfriend.

"Come on guys, I hear a party calling our name." Jason said. It was time to start celebrating Kim's success.

"You do?" Tommy questioned with a grin. "Wow bro, you have excellent hearing." Jason snorted and then both boys laughed.

"I hope we're all ready to have fun tonight." Kim said with a grin. She knew of a place that was teenager friendly that they could go and have a good time.

Everyone agreed, even Adam and Tanya managed to smile. Kim nodded in approval before excusing herself to go get ready. Twenty minutes later, she returned to lead the group off. The eight past and present rangers then proceeded to cap off their first three days in Florida together with an all night party.


	13. A Sad Goodbye

**Disclaimer:** All characters from the known Power Rangers universe belong to Saban. Everyone else belongs to me.

Ranger Scrolls  
"A Sad Goodbye"

It had been almost a week since the rangers returned home from Florida. Everyone was trying to get things back to normal. For some, returning to normal was easier than it was for others.

"You see, that's the problem with society today." Jason argued as he grinned wickedly. "You just don't understand."

His friend threw her hands in the air and let out a frustrated grunt. "You're right, I don't!" she exclaimed as she eyed him down. "That's the problem. You've totally lost me."

"That wasn't hard to do." Jason mumbled as he sat back in his chair, a self-satisfied look plastered on his face.

Carri shot him a look as Emily made a face. "How could he lose you? I followed him." Honestly, she was just as lost, but she was having fun picking on her friend and she thought she would continue.

"He probably told you ahead of time what the hell he was talking about so you'd know and I wouldn't." The yellow ranger said as she crossed her arms over her chest and huffed.

"Me? Do something that devious?" Jason questioned, raising an eyebrow. "I'd never do such a thing. I'm perfect, remember?"

Carri reached over and slapped him, hard enough for him to feel it but not hard enough to do any damage. "Perfect my ass." She grumbled as he put a hand to the spot she just slapped. "You're lucky we're friends. I went easy on you."

"You guys should just drop it. Then it wouldn't matter who understood what or what the hell anybody was talking about." Rocky pointed out as he finished swallowing the last of his burger. He really could not say how this got started. He was sure it was not serious and he was sure nobody really knew what was going on. He certainly didn't.

Carri rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's sudden entrance into the conversation. "You hush."

"I don't remember asking his opinion." Emily said as she made eye contact with Carri. The two girls smiled, the conversation from a few seconds ago forgotten about.

"Nobody asked him." Tommy chimed in, despite the fact that he was not part of the original conversation either. "He just threw his ten cents in anyway."

"Nobody asked you either." Carri said dryly as she glared over at the red ranger.

Jason started to laugh as he looked between his girlfriend and his friend. "Do either of you remember what this conversation was about?" he asked, watching as they both shook their heads no and laughed as well.

As the laughter died down, a silence took over, one that Kat eventually interrupted. "It's hot out here." She commented. Out here, being the table they were sitting at that was part of Ernie's outdoor beach club.

"I agree." Carri replied as she absentmindedly lifted her hand and used it to fan herself.

Jason snorted. "At least you agree with something." He couldn't help it; he had to rib her again.

"She is kind of stubborn isn't she?" Rocky questioned as he glanced over at his girlfriend and grinned.

"I'd have to say she is." Tommy chimed in.

"I'm right here." Carri said her annoyance obvious. "Quit talking about me like I can't hear you." They were picking and she knew it, but that did not mean she had to like it.

"She's the most stubborn person I know." Jason continued on, ignoring anything that came out of Carri's mouth.

The yellow ranger looked between the three guys, giving them a look that could kill. They simply laughed in response, getting laughs from everyone else at the table, everyone except a certain couple.

Tanya leaned in closely to her boyfriend. "You know I'm leaving tomorrow." She whispered, not wanting everyone else to hear. They had tried to play it cool in front of the others. They did not know what would happen; they were trying to work this out on their own without everyone's interference.

"I know." Adam whispered back as he wrapped an arm around her.

"So what are we going to do?" she questioned as she glanced up at him. "Break up?"

"I won't let that happen." Adam replied, quite determined. "This was my last resort but I've been thinking about this for a while. I"

"Let's go play volleyball." Tommy's voice cut off any conversation Adam and Tanya were having as he jumped up from the table. He was done sitting there; it was time to go do something fun.

Kat, Rocky and Carri were quick to jump up and agree to be part of the action. Jason and Emily stood up slowly behind them. "Sorry bro, maybe next time. We were heading out to the movies." Jason said. He did not see his girlfriend at all the previous week. He wanted some alone time with her.

"What about you guys?" Tommy asked as he looked over at the couple still sitting at the table.

"Since Tanya is leaving tomorrow, we're going to try to get some alone time in." Adam replied. He was going to have to take this chance to tell her the idea he came up with, the idea that would keep them together.

"Ok." Tommy said, flashing them a smile before turning back to the rest of his ranger team. "Let's go."

Rocky put his arm around his girlfriend and grinned at her before glancing over at Tommy. "How about me and talentless over here against you and Kat?"

"Talentless?" Carri questioned, raising an eyebrow as she removed her boyfriend's arm from her shoulder. She was not world's greatest volleyball player, but talentless was an insult.

"That would be you." Tommy said as he pointed over at his ranger teammate.

"It obviously couldn't be me." Kat said as she glanced over at her cousin and grinned.

"This is why I said against Tommy and Kat." Rocky pointed out as he glanced over at his girlfriend. "Seeing as how you can't play against yourself."

"I can." Carri replied calmly as she crossed her arms over her chest. "That's how much talent I have."

"Sure you do." Tommy said with a hint of sarcasm. The foursome approached the net and he grabbed the ball, glancing back at Carri and grinning as he walked off.

"See." Carri said as she stopped short on one side of the net while Tommy and Kat headed over toward the other side. "Tommy agrees with me." She did not miss the tone in his voice, but he still spoke words of agreement and she was determined to push it in her favor.

"Tommy's just being nice. You are my cousin and he wouldn't want to make me mad by making you mad." Kat said smiling. She knew that was not the case at all. If she got mad at everyone who ever made Carri angry, she would not have any friends. Of course, with most people Carri got angry and got over it rather quickly.

Rocky applauded Kat's statement and his girlfriend shot him a look. "I believe she's got a point." He said, watching as Carri stuck her tongue out at him. He smiled at her in response and she could not help but smile back.

"Enough small talk." Tommy said as he grinned at the blue and yellow rangers. "Let's play so I," he paused and took note of the look Kat was giving him, "I mean we can win."

"Dream on." Rocky said as he and his girlfriend moved into position.

Carri watched as Tommy motioned for Kat to come toward him and the duo started whispering back and forth, she assumed discussing strategy. She watched as Kat touched his arm and he smiled and she giggled. And it made her sick. Her cousin agreeing to casually date Tommy was crap. She understood that Tommy felt damn guilty about the whole thing and that he did like Kat; however, he was in love with Kim. Kat said that she was ok with it, that Tommy could still change his mind and want to be with her but Carri was certain that wouldn't happen.

She thought her cousin was too good to be his second string. Nevertheless, she was blindly in love with him and she would do anything to be with him, including holding on to the insane fantasy that he was going to leave Kim for good and fall madly in love with her. Kat was crazy and she wanted to tell her so ever since they got back from Florida. Rocky convinced her to keep her mouth shut. All three parties were actually happy with the outcome and he did not think she should stir the waters. He thought it was for the good of the team to keep the peace. She could see his point and she kept from flat out saying anything to Kat, but she could not help the indirect comments that came out. Comments that Kat was happily oblivious too.

Carri let out a frustrated grunt as Tommy served the ball and the game started. It was an even match and the score was close throughout most of it. As the match got close to the end, the familiar tone of their communicators signaled that there was more to worry about that day than beach volleyball.

Rocky spiked the ball over the net just as the communicators sounded. "Match point." He said triumphantly when it hit the ground.

"That doesn't count." Tommy was quick to point out as the four rangers gathered.

"Why is that?" Rocky asked as they started to move toward a safe location.

"Because we were interrupted." Tommy replied. The communicator going off had momentarily disrupted his concentration. He would take any excuse not to lose.

"What a sore loser." Rocky said with a grin, watching as his girlfriend snickered.

Tommy smiled but otherwise ignored the comment as he brought his communicator to his mouth. "Go ahead Alpha."

"Rita and Zedd have sent tengas to the park, along with a new monster, Electronator." Alpha quickly filled them in on the situation. "You must teleport and stop them immediately."

"Right." Tommy said as he glanced around the area making sure they were clear. "It's morphin time!"

"Zeo ranger one, pink!"

"Zeo ranger two, yellow!"

"Zeo ranger three, blue!"

"Zeo ranger five, red!"

* * *

The four streaks of multicolored light appeared in the park behind Zedd's crew. "You looking for us?" Tommy called out, causing them to spin around.

Electronator looked at the four multicolored nuisances. "Why rangers, nice of you to show up." He said. "Tengas, get them!"

Carri sighed. They always sent the tengas first, and they always stopped them. "Here we go again." She said as the fight began.

The fight against the tengas lasted ten minutes before the four Zeo rangers defeated them. They disappeared and the rangers regrouped. "Is that all you got?" Carri called out.

Electronator laughed. "Now it's my turn." He said as he ran to attack the rangers.

Rocky and Tommy ran out in front of their teammates, leaping high into the air and unleashing a power punch and a power kick on the monster. Electronator fell backward and the two male rangers landed behind him. The monster immediately stood and ran for the remaining two rangers.

The blue and red rangers headed to join their teammates, but a new group of tengas appeared to deter them, leaving Electronator with Kat and Carri. The two female rangers fought him hand to hand. The fight appeared to be going in their favor, until something shot from the end of the monsters hands and touched the girls, sending electric shocks through their bodies.

They were in more pain than imaginable and the guys couldn't get to them to help them. Just when they thought they could not take anymore, a green figure came flying out of nowhere. He hit Electronator hard enough to force him to lose his grip on the girls.

"Adam!" Rocky exclaimed, relieved to see him. The girls could have gotten killed while he was taking his time getting there. "It's about time you showed up." He added.

The green ranger ignored his comment and went to help the two girls stand. He wanted to get there earlier but it was complicated. "Are you alright?"

"Peachy." Carri said as she looked at him oddly. "Thanks for asking Jason." She did not know what happened to Adam, but she knew that he definitely was not the one behind the green spandex.

"You're quick today." Jason said with a grin. Carri was perceptive; it did not surprise him that she figured it out that fast.

"But what – duck!" Carri yelled as she kicked Electronator in the stomach. She supposed her curiosity would have to wait until after the battle. As she made contact with the monster, Jason turned and spun around so that he could help her in battle.

"You can't stop me!" Electronator bellowed as he glared at the three rangers.

Carri snorted and Jason rolled his eyes as the green, pink and yellow rangers reached for their pistols and fired. Seconds after they hit him, Rocky and Tommy finished off the rest of the tengas and made their way over toward them.

Electronator went down, but it did not take long before he was back on his feet again. "That's not enough fire power to destroy me!"

"You want more fire power?" Rocky questioned with a grin. "Fine but you asked for it."

"We need the Zeo Cannon now!" Tommy yelled as the rangers moved into position. The weapon fell into their hands and they wasted no time firing it.

Once the smoke cleared, Electronator was still standing, only this time he was standing several stories high. He went to stomp on the rangers and they ducked and rolled out of the way. As they stood, Tommy called for the Super Zeo Zords. They wasted no time pulling their zords into megazord formation.

"We need to finish him off fast." Jason pointed out as he reached out and tried to electrocute them. "Any ideas?"

"After our recent tangle with him, I'd say his power comes from those… thingies… coming from the ends of his arms." Carri said as she thought about it. "Maybe if we can cut them off we can take care of him."

"Easy enough." Tommy replied, agreeing with her assessment of their situation. "We need the Super Zeo Megazord Saber, now!"

The twin sabers fell into the megazords hand as Electronator charged them. He reached out to attack them from both sides with his electric tentacles but never got the chance as the two sabers swung around quickly, slicing the tentacles off and sending them to the ground with a loud thud.

"Hey!" Electronator exclaimed as he watched the source of his power fall to the ground. "You can't do that!"

"If you liked that, check this out." Rocky said with a grin as the rangers moved to bring the two smaller sabers together, creating a single, more powerful sword. With a quick hand motion the sword, sliced Electronator and he fell to the ground, defeated.

* * *

The moment the battle was over, the rangers' teleported, themselves back to the Power Chamber, searching for answers. They all enjoyed fighting with Jason but they were all concerned with Adam's disappearance.

Rocky was the first to approach his best friend. "Is everything alright?" he asked. Adam loved being a ranger; he could not imagine what had prompted him to give Jason his zeonizers.

"I'm fine." Adam replied with a grin. In fact he was better than fine, he had made his decision and things were going to work out for him. "I'm better than I've been in a long time."

"Then why weren't you out there with us?" Kat questioned, her concern for her teammate showing through.

"Because I," Adam paused. This was not an easy thing to say and he was not sure if they would understand. However, these were his closest friends, his teammates, and he had to tell them. "I'm moving to New York."

A wave of silence came across the rangers. Then, without warning, everyone started to speak at once. Adam was getting peppered with questions about his sudden decision from all sides. The former green ranger did not know where to start. Finally, Zordon stepped in. "Rangers, give Adam a chance to explain his decision." Their mentor spoke, effectively ending all questioning.

"I know you guys think this is an impulse decision. But the truth is I've been thinking about this for a while now." Adam assured them.

Rocky frowned. "Why didn't you tell us you were thinking about moving to New York?" He thought they were best friends, he thought he could have helped him make his decision.

"Because it was a last resort." Adam replied. He knew Rocky was hurt that he did not share this with him, but it was not something he felt he could share, not until the decision got made.

"Last resort to what?" Carri questioned, wondering what the hell would make anyone pickup and leave California for New York. They could not pay her enough to voluntarily move back to that state.

Tanya sighed as she glanced over at her boyfriend briefly before turning toward the others. "I don't know if you guys have any idea how hard it is to maintain a long distance relationship."

She paused and Tommy nodded as if to answer a question. He knew how hard it was. It led to worries, doubts, and breakups that never should have happened. It led to moving on even though you never really wanted to, to confrontations with ex's that led to true feelings being revealed. It led to kisses that were longed for by both parties, kisses that changed everything. Kisses that made people only want to casually date current girlfriends while they waited for old ones to one-day return. Kisses that led to a lot of guilt over actions and choices that were made. Yes, Tommy knew the hardships of long distance dating.

"It's not the easiest thing in the world." Tanya continued as she watched Tommy's reaction. She knew he agreed she knew what he had been through. "The separation created unwanted silence and awkwardness in our relationship, things neither of us wanted. I told Adam that unless we could find away to get past all that, to end the separation, that we should break up so that we could at least be friends."

"Neither one of us wanted to just be friends." Adam chimed in. "We want to be with each other, and since Tanya is stuck in New York I decided to move there with her. That is why Jason was with you guys today. I've asked him to take my place."

"What are you going to do there?" Carri questioned. Adam got an acceptance letter to USC, and was planning to go there with the rest of the team in the fall. It was getting late to change college plans.

"I've already applied to NYU." Adam said. He was going to go to film school at USC, but if he was not able to go there, NYU was a good second choice. "I'm hoping I can find a job in the film industry while I'm there." There had been a few potential internships he was looking into in Los Angeles. The internships included both behind the scenes and stunt work in front of the camera. He hoped he could find the same type of opportunity in New York.

"I wish you had told us earlier." Rocky said as he made a face. "But, we wish you nothing but the best of luck in New York." He finished sincerely.

"Thanks. That means a lot to me." Adam said as he smiled at him. He, Rocky and Aisha had been inseparable in Stone Canyon. They had already lost Aisha, now he was not going to see Rocky anymore. It was going to be weird.

Kat reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. "You mean a lot to us." She said with a smile.

Adam smiled back at her. He really appreciated his teammate's support. A silence settled in over the rangers. The former green ranger sighed. He knew he could not stay here forever. "I need to get going. I still have to pack before we leave in the morning."

"Alright." Rocky replied. "Then we'll see you in the morning." There was no way he was letting his best friend leave without them there saying goodbye. He frowned as Adam and Tanya teleported out. He wished there was more they could do besides just seeing him off. "I wish he could have given us a little more notice so we could have thrown him a party or something."

"Who says we can't?" Carri asked. She had every intention of throwing a party for the former ranger.

Rocky looked at her curiously, wondering what she had in mind. "Well nobody but"

"Carri's right." Kat said, cutting her teammate off mid sentence. "It's too late to ask Ernie about using the Youth Center, but we could do a small party at our house."

"I'll hit up the bakery." Carri volunteered. There was a nice place downtown that she may be able to still get a cake out of this late in the day.

"I'll get some party supplies together." Jason chimed in. He figured he could get Emily to lend him a hand.

"I'll get Adam a going away gift." Kat said with a smile. She had just the thing in mind. "Would you like to come with me?" she asked as she turned toward her boyfriend.

"I'd be delighted." Tommy replied. He did enjoy spending time with Kat. He just wanted to be with Kim more. It was complicated, and he and Kim both worked hard to make it that way. He was not with Kim now, he couldn't be, which was why he was still with Kat. The pink ranger knew how he felt and she was ok with it, but that did not make the situation easy. He really wanted to believe that this was the best course of action but in the end, he honestly did not know.

"I'll bring the food." Rocky volunteered with a grin.

"Of course." Carri said as she playfully rolled her eyes.

Rocky walked over and put his arms around her. "What was that for?"

"Well," Carri said as she smiled devilishly, "you are the one who eats the most; I suppose you would be the one who gets excited over the food."

"Hey now." Rocky replied. She raised her eyebrow and gave him a look and he grinned in response before leaning in and giving her a kiss.

"Not to interrupt," Kat said as the others watched the duo, "but if we're going to get this ready we need to get moving."

The others agreed and the yellow and blue rangers separated. They set a meeting time then the group of rangers quickly teleported out of the Power Chamber.

* * *

Adam and Tanya walked up to the Hillard's front step. "I don't understand why they want us to come over." Adam said as he rang the bell. They still had a few things left to do but Carri had been insistent on the phone that he get his butt to her place.

Tanya glanced up at him. "They're your friends, and you're leaving tomorrow. I'm sure they want to say goodbye." She said, watching as he smiled over at her and nodded. She leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek as Kat opened the door.

"Were they making out on our porch?" Carri called out, teasing the former rangers. She had seen how close Tanya was to Adam's face. She was not sure what they were doing.

Adam blushed. It was nothing more than a kiss on the cheek, but Carri's calling him out still made him somewhat embarrassed. "Um… hey." He said as he smiled at the group that was gathered in the living room.

Rocky walked out and crossed his arms over his chest. "You sure did take your time." He complained. "I've been waiting to eat this party food but they said I couldn't start without the guest of honor." He finished, giving his best friend a smile.

Adam laughed at him. "I don't think I'll ever meet anyone with your appetite." How he still managed to stay in shape was beyond him.

Emily chuckled. "As a waitress, I can tell you that nobody eats as much as that boy over there." She said as she pointed at the blue ranger.

"Yet he manages to stay fit." Tommy said, voicing Adam's earlier thoughts. It was not that odd that Tommy had the same thought, it had occurred to all of the rangers before. He had to have killer metabolism. "Amazing, isn't it?"

"You guys just wish you could be like me." Rocky said as he popped a few potato chips into his mouth. He chewed and swallowed before grinning at the others. "I'm perfect."

Before anybody could respond, loud booming music came flowing through the surround sound. The music level dropped and everyone turned toward the stereo's operator. Carri crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow. "Dang Jase, you can't even operate a stereo right."

Jason returned the look he was getting. "If I had better equipment, this wouldn't have been a problem."

Carri simply shrugged in response as Kat let out a "hey". The equipment belonged to her aunt and uncle; she could care less what he said about it. Jason chuckled but nothing more was said on the stereo issue. The group started to focus on the party, with people moving to get food and talking to each other.

Adam glanced around the room and took in his friends. His best friend was eating chips and dip, with his girlfriend occasionally stealing from his plate. Jason and Emily were heading over toward the blue and yellow rangers. Tommy and Kat were dancing with each other, finally starting to look as close as they did before they left for Florida.

The former ranger could not help the sigh that escaped his lips. His girlfriend looked up at him with concern. "What's wrong?"

Adam shook his head. Nothing was wrong, not really. "I'm going to miss them, that's all."

"I know you will." Tanya said as she put her hand in his and gave it a squeeze. "It's hard leaving." It had not been that long ago that she took off to New York for the opportunity of a lifetime, leaving her boyfriend, her best friend and the rangers behind.

"They're like my family. We have all been there for each other more times than I can count. Through Rita and Zedd, Ivan, Mondo and Machina, Gasket and Archerina…" Adam let his voice trail off as he sighed once more. "We've been through a lot, especially me and Rocky. I have known him since elementary school. The others I haven't known as long, but we're still close."

"Go." Tanya said as she gave him a little shove. "Mingle. You're over here talking about how much you're going to miss them, but you need to be telling them that not me."

Adam smiled over at her. "You're right." He said as he headed over toward the group. They were here to party and have a good time, and he knew something that would be fun to do that they had not done in a while. "So who's up for a game of basketball in the dark?"

Everyone stopped what they were doing as they turned to glance at Adam. Rocky smiled and spoke first. "I'm game. I have excellent night vision."

Carri snorted. "Must be all those carrots he eats."

Emily glanced over at her friend and grinned. "Carrot cake." She corrected as both girls giggled.

"Since this is my last night here, I figured I needed to prove once and for all that I am the king of the courts." Adam said triumphantly as he grinned at the male rangers.

"Sounds like a challenge to me." Tommy replied. He never ignored a challenge.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Rocky asked as he headed toward the front door. The rest of the group followed behind them and they headed for the basketball courts.

The house was quiet for the hour they were gone, and when they returned the party started back up again. They hung out until the early morning hours, when Adam finally had to stop the party and head out so he could be ready to go to the airport the next morning.

* * *

It was eleven o'clock the next morning and the group of friends found themselves at Angel Grove's airport. Adam and Tanya had checked in, and the airline was starting to make boarding calls. It would not be long before they had to part ways, and the former ranger had many goodbyes to get in first.

"Well this is it." Adam said as he glanced at the group. They were the best friends he ever had. He had a blast with them the night before. They had even gotten him a going away present, a black frog he could display in his new apartment. It reminded him of their trip to Phaedos, and of his frustration with getting a frog when all his friends were getting bears, apes and wolfs. Despite the rocky start, he grew to love the frog, and the statue would provide fond memories of his time as a ranger and his friends on the west coast.

"It's too bad you're leaving." Tommy said as Adam approached him. "We're going to miss you."

Adam gave the red ranger a hug. "I'm going to miss you guys too." He then leaned over and hugged Kat, smiling at her as they broke apart. "Now who am I supposed to talk to while I'm waiting for my lazy friends?" He and Kat had spent a lot of time in the Youth Center talking to each other while the rest of the team was running late for one reason or another.

"That's what you have Tanya for." Kat replied, flashing a smile of her own.

The former ranger moved over and took Jason's outstretched hand, shaking it before giving him a quick hug as well. "Take care Jason."

"I will." Jason replied.

"And make sure you take good care of those responsibilities I left you." Adam spoke cryptically, trying to avoid any reference to the rangers in front of Emily.

"I plan on it." He promised him. Being a ranger was in his blood. He hated that Adam had to leave, but he was thrilled to get another shot at a morpher. Hopefully this one he would have for a good long while.

Emily glanced at the two boys curiously. She had no idea what it was that Jason was doing for Adam. She shook those thoughts off as Adam leaned in to give her a hug. "I'm glad I got to know you." He said.

"It's been fun." Emily replied. Even though they were somewhat weird, she really enjoyed hanging out with Jason's friends.

Carri got the next hug from Adam. "I'm pretty sure I'll never meet anyone like you." He said as they let go of each other. "Then again, that's probably a good thing."

The yellow ranger rolled her eyes. "You had to get one last shot in didn't you?" she asked with a sigh before smiling at him.

Adam grinned and went to move on, but Carri held out a hand to stop him. "I'm not through with you yet." She said as she reached into her back pocket and pulled out a business card, handing it to him. "That's my dad's. He is one of the guys in the center of all things entertainment in New York. If there is work for you, he will find it. I talked to him; he's expecting to hear from you soon."

Adam took the card and glanced at it. He was somewhat surprised, although he knew he shouldn't be. "Thanks." He said as he tucked it into his pocket. "I'll have to call him once I get settled." He said before moving over to Rocky. He glanced at his best friend and smiled. "I don't know what to say."

"There's not much to say." Rocky replied, willing himself not to get choked up. "I'm gonna miss you."

"Me too." Adam replied, his emotions showing through in his voice. They had been friends since their childhood, it was not easy to say goodbye. He smiled at the blue ranger before leaning in and embracing him in a hug.

As they broke apart, Tanya said her goodbyes to the group. It was time for the two of them to get to the gate before they missed their plane. Adam said one last goodbye, turning around quickly so that his friends would not see him tear up.

The former green ranger took a deep breath and glanced back at his friends. Tommy and Kat had their arms around each other as they both waved goodbye. Jason and Emily where holding hands and waving to him with their free hand. Carri had put an arm around the upset blue ranger as they both smiled and waved as well.

The tears came back and Adam turned around again, this time for good. The hero that had embraced the power of the mastodon, the frog, and the green Zeo shard, boarded the plane for New York, ending one chapter in Power Rangers history and beginning another.


	14. Back to Action

**Disclaimer:** All characters from the Power Rangers universe belong to Disney, Callisto and all things related to her belong to Universal, and everyone else is mine.

Ranger Scrolls  
"Back to Action"

Two young lovers were sitting on the couch in the living room making out. They were completely involved in each other, so much so that neither heard the door open and neither knew they were about to be interrupted.

"Ah-hem." Kat cleared her throat as she felt a blush creep up in her cheeks. She did not know what Carri and Rocky did when they were alone together, she did not want to know. The topic was one she was not comfortable with and her cousin was kind enough not to share what she may or may not have done with her boyfriend. She knew where it looked like this was heading and she looked away.

Carri and Rocky sat up, the yellow ranger pushing her shirt back down into its proper position. "Oh, you're back." She said flashing her cousin a smile. Her aunt and uncle were gone for the night; she was hoping Kat would stay away for at least another hour.

Tommy grinned. Walking in on them like that did not bother him at all. He found it amusing. "Did we interrupt?"

"No, of course not." Rocky said before shooting his friend a look. Tommy chuckled and Rocky could not help but laugh a bit as well. It was all right, there would be other nights with Carri.

Kat glanced down at the envelope in her hands, more than ready to change subjects. "Before I forget, this came for you today." She said as she handed her cousin her mail.

Carri position herself so that she was sitting cross-legged on the couch and took the letter that was getting presented to her. Rocky scooted over and wrapped his arms around her, placing his chin on her shoulder. "What did you get?"

"It's from the Female High School Athletes Association." She said as she frowned. It was odd; she never got anything from them, other than a congratulatory note for being a female athlete in high school. "I always thought it was just for show. I wonder what it could be."

"Open it." Kat encouraged her.

Carri shrugged and stuck her fingernail in the tiny opening on the envelope, ripping a hole in it large enough for her to pull the letter out. "Ok…" she let her voice trail off as she read the letter. "It says that I am invited to come to the National Female Athletes Association Convention due to my being one of the best senior level athletes in my sport."

"You were the only female senior in your sport." Tommy was quick to point out. He was not sure if that was true or not, but at the very least out of all the teams they faced in California she was the only female.

The yellow ranger rolled her eyes before continuing. "Anyway the selected group of athletes is being flown to San Francisco for a few days. After that, they will be taking us to an island off the coast for a real vacation before returning to San Francisco. If I want to go, I need to RSVP. We'd leave Monday and return the following Sunday." Carri frowned. What was it with all these short notice vacations? That only left her two days to pack and get ready to go.

"Wow." Rocky commented as he leaned back. That was impressive. It was not that he didn't agree that she was one of the top female baseball players. She did lead their team to state champions. "Where's my invitation to something like that?"

Tommy grinned at his fellow ranger. "Unless there is something about you we don't know, I don't think you'll get an invitation from the Female Athletes Association."

"That's not what I meant." Rocky said as he shot the red ranger a look. Tommy grinned and Rocky shook his head.

"So are you going to go?" Kat asked, ignoring the banter between the boys.

Carri shrugged. It might be fun. If anything, it sounded like she could lie out on a beach for a few days. "Why not."

"So you're going to leave me here all alone for a week?" Rocky questioned, mock pouting.

She leaned over and gave him a kiss on the forehead. "You'll survive."

"We'll see." He said with a sigh. She rolled her eyes and he chuckled.

"Oh." Kat said suddenly, causing everybody to turn toward her in alarm. "I forgot we were just stopping by so I could get changed before dinner."

Kat gave Tommy a quick kiss on the cheek before taking off upstairs. Carri grinned wickedly at Rocky, her mind going back to what they were doing before they were interrupted. Rocky smiled back at her as she reached for the phone. "I'm going to go ahead and call in my RSVP." She said. She was hoping it would keep her mind distracted until Kat and Tommy left.

While Carri sat on the phone, Rocky and Tommy chatted until the pink ranger returned, ready to take off for the evening. As the door shut and locked behind Tommy and Kat, the blue and yellow rangers shifted to pick their night up right where it left off.

* * *

"Looks like she's going out of town." Callisto referenced what Zedd and Rita were watching as she arrived in the center of the Lunar Palace's throne room. A smile spread across her face. "How convenient." She said, resisting the urge to let out a laugh.

"You again." Zedd growled as he snapped around to face her. "How dare you come back here after you took off the last time!"

"My plan wasn't going the way I wanted to." Callisto offered as close to an apology as she was going to get as she shrugged her shoulders. "So I made a new plan."

"Really?" Rita questioned as she put one hand on her hip while the other firmly grasped her staff. "And just what kind of plan is that?"

"Plan?" Rito questioned as he walked into the room. "What plan?" he asked, scratching his head. "Whatever it is, can I be in charge of the monster, please Ed?" He looked up briefly and spotted Callisto standing there. "Oh, hiya Calli."

Callisto flung him across the room. As he hit the wall with a thud, Goldar snickered. "Did you not learn your lesson last time?" she questioned, not in the mood to deal with Rita's incompetent brother now.

"Oh. Hehe." Rito said as he stood. "I forgot."

The goddess simply rolled her eyes and turned to Zedd. "Look at him." She said, sticking a finger in Rito's direction. "He's a disgusting slob and I haven't heard about him bagging any rangers. Why keep him around?"

"I find myself asking the same question." Zedd replied with a sigh.

"Because he's my brother." Rita interjected. "That's why." She would admit her brother was not the world's best henchman, but he was still her brother.

Callisto sighed, letting a silence hang in the air before she went back and answered Rita's original question. "I'm here to destroy all the rangers, past and present. The plan has already started. I've gotten the yellow ranger out of my hair." She paused and let out a slightly insane laugh. "You know, only a goddess can put enough spells on people to make something of that magnitude happen." She was quite pleased with her work. It was a huge set up orchestrated on her part, but the payoff was going to make it worth the work.

"Now, you can either help me or not, but if you chose not to I'd suggest you stay out of my way." Callisto threatened, finishing her sentence with a hiss in her voice.

"Not help you get rid of all of them?" Zedd questioned as the endless possibilities flowed through his head. Was it weak of them to attack former rangers, opponents with no power? One could make that argument. However, if they only destroyed the current team, Zordon would simply return powers to his former brats. It was best to take them all out. "What do you need?"

"Just a dozen of your best Tenga warriors." Callisto replied.

"Done." Zedd said. That was simple enough. He could spare Tengas.

Rito's hand shot in the air. "Oooh, oooh, pick me!" he exclaimed as he jumped up and down.

Callisto looked him up and down and snickered. "I want to destroy the rangers, not entertain them."

"Finally someone with some sense." Goldar mumbled, earning a deadly look from Rita.

After Rita finished glaring at the warrior, she turned back toward the goddess. "When do we start?"

"Collections start tomorrow." Callisto replied with a laugh. Then as quickly as she appeared, she was gone.

* * *

Billy awoke early on what was Earth's Saturday morning so that he could finish packing. He was going to his birth planet for a visit. Things on Aquitar were slowing down and he missed the others. He wanted to; he needed to get away for a few days.

"I will miss your company." Cestria said as she watched the former ranger put his things together. She did not understand why he needed to go; he had everything he could want here.

"Me too." Billy replied. Although things with his girlfriend were complicated, he would still miss her.

"When are you departing?" she questioned.

"As soon as I'm ready." Billy replied as he flashed her smile.

A beep sounded through the room. Billy headed over to a console and pressed a button, and a small screen revealed Delphine's face. "Cestria, your assistance is needed immediately."

"I am on my way." Cestria said as she ended the call. "I will see you when you return."

Billy said goodbye to her and watched her leave before he returned toward the task in front of him. As he threw one last shirt into his bag, he heard the door open again. Turning around, he saw Cestria standing there.

"Billy?" she questioned softly as she glanced at him.

"Yes?" Billy asked a concerned tone in his voice. She had gone to help Delphine. It was not in her nature to return and become emotional regarding his departure.

She smiled at him and extended her hands. "Come here."

Something did not seem right, but still Billy went toward her outstretched hands. Perhaps some of his human gestures had rubbed off on her. As he reached her, she put her arms around him and pulled him in for a hug. "Is everything alright?" Billy asked as he returned the gesture.

Suddenly everything went white as the room in front of him disappeared. Billy was teleporting, but he did not know where to. When things started to become clear again, the first thing he noticed was that the woman in front of him was not Cestria.

The blonde-haired woman smiled. "It is now." She said as she teleported herself away from Billy in a blink of an eye. "Welcome to my world."

Billy looked around at his surroundings. He had been locked inside a cage of some sort. "Who are you?" he questioned as he ran toward the front of the cage. "What's going on?" he continued as he grabbed the bars.

Without warning, the bars sent an electric shock through his body, sending him flying backward. The woman who brought him there laughed. Billy sat up and looked at her. "Tomorrow it's off to Africa." She said as she teleported herself out, leaving Billy alone in the cage with a group of Tenga's surrounding the exterior.

Billy tried to drown out the bird's squawking as he stayed seated in the middle of the cage, working on figuring out what was going on.

* * *

"So that's where I'm going this week." Carri finished her conversation, grinning wickedly at her not by blood brother.

"I hate you." Jason said with a frown. She seemed quite amused by that statement and he continued. "I'm serious Car. You suck."

"I could care less what you think." She said with a shrug. "I'm going on an amazing vacation." She continued, grinning once more.

Jason was going to respond when someone came up behind him and ran fingers through his hair. He glanced up to see his girlfriend standing there. "Break time?"

"It is." She said, giving him a kiss before taking the vacant seat next to him.

"Hey Em." Carri greeted her friend.

"Hey." Emily replied with a smile. "How's it going?"

Jason snorted. "Considering she's getting a free vacation, I think it's going very well." He replied.

Carri reached out and elbowed him in the side, briefly rolling her eyes. "I can answer for myself, thank you." She spoke sharply. Jason grinned at her and she rolled her eyes once more before the corners of her lips curled up into a smile.

"No you can't." Rocky chimed in on the conversation as he sat down next to his girlfriend. "You need someone to answer for you, like me." Not Jason. He added silently. He couldn't help it. Those two were close, and thoughts like that tended to pop into his head.

Carri narrowed her eyes and glared at him. "So what, you're my official spokesperson?"

"Only if you'll let me." Rocky replied, grinning goofily.

"I'll consider it." Carri replied. Although she doubted he could handle the job. She said what was on her mind, and she was not sure how much of it he would repeat.

"So what's this about a free vacation?" Emily questioned, bringing the conversation back to where it started.

Carri thought for a moment before glancing over at Emily. "I'll let Jason fill you in since he thinks he is answering for me." She said as she gestured toward the green ranger.

Rocky nodded in agreement. This was one he would let Jason take. He wanted to whisk his girlfriend away for a little while. "I was thinking." He said as he leaned toward her. Carri raised an eyebrow. "Why don't we spend the rest of the day together? I figure you probably won't want to go out tomorrow since you're leaving Monday."

"Do you have anything planned?" Carri questioned. Not that it mattered; she would go out with him anyway.

"Actually I do." He replied with a grin.

"Alright." Carri said with a shrug. "Let's go out."

Rocky jumped up and extended his hand toward her. She took it and allowed him to pull her to her feet. "We'll see you guys later." Rocky said as he glanced toward Jason and Emily. Carri said her goodbyes as well, and the two of them took off.

As they, left Emily turned toward her boyfriend. "It looks like it's just me and you now." She said with a grin.

Jason raised an eyebrow. "Is that a bad thing?" he questioned, leaning closer to her.

"Why would it be?" Emily asked as she moved in and brushed her lips against his.

Before the kiss could get going in earnest, a voice broke them out of the moment. "Hey guys." Tommy said as he and Kat approached the table.

"Tommy, perfect timing." Jason said with a sigh as he leaned back into his chair.

"Sorry." Kat apologized with a smile. She had not wanted to interrupt, but Tommy seemed to think it did not matter seeing as how the Youth Center was not really a good setting for them to be doing anything anyway.

"It's ok." Emily said with a shrug. Honestly, she had wanted a few minutes with her boyfriend. He was always with his friends while she was working. This was a rare opportunity to get him alone on her break. A group of teenagers started hollering and she sighed. "I need to go take care of them anyway." Emily said as she kissed her boyfriend on the cheek. "Later."

Jason watched her go before turning his attention toward the red and pink rangers. "So what's up?"

"We just came down to hang out." Tommy said before glancing toward the mats. "And to see if anyone was available for sparring."

"Kat's sparring?" Jason questioned, looking at his teammate curiously. Although he knew that the Kat part of the "we" was just there to hang out, he was going to call him out on it anyway.

"Just watching." Kat replied with a smile. Tommy wanted to come down here and she thought it would be fun to go with him. She enjoyed any opportunity to spend time with him.

"Right." Jason said, smiling back at her. Kat would go anywhere Tommy wanted her to, even if that meant simply sitting there and watching him work out. It has been bad since they got back from Florida, but Jason was not the ranger that her behavior really bothered. Carri was going to go crazy if Kat did not wake up and realize she was better than casually dating Tommy. While he agreed with Carri, he hadn't been around the last few years and he was staying out of it for now.

"So are you in?" Tommy said as he stuck his thumb out and gestured to the mats.

"Of course." Jason said as he stood from his chair. He and Tommy headed toward the locker room to get changed, Jason's thoughts about Tommy and Kat's weird relationship disappearing for the moment.

* * *

Billy watched as the blonde woman holding him captive simply stared at him, smiling. It was obvious she was a little past crazy. "Answer me!" He exclaimed, getting frustrated. He was desperately trying to find out answers about his situation. "Who are you? What's going on here?"

Finally, she acknowledged him by throwing him across the cage and sending him into the bars shocking him in the process. "Ok." She said simply as Billy tried to pull himself back up. "I am Callisto, Goddess of War." She smiled to herself. Ares was no longer using the title. It was hers for the taking. "I'm going to kill all the rangers, past and present."

"You don't think the rangers have faced worse than you?" Billy questioned, although he had to admit he was somewhat worried. This was the first villain to actually take their anger out on former rangers. He pushed that thought aside and continued. "The rangers are going to find out what happened and they will come rescue me. Your plan will not succeed."

"Of course they will find out what happened here, I'm going to tell them." Callisto responded, laughing briefly before continuing. "My plan can't fail. After all, I am a goddess who cannot be killed with your silly weapons. Besides, I almost killed them the first time." She would have if she had had better help.

"First time?" Billy repeated in a whisper, his face dropping. He had never heard of her before. How could he miss something this big?

Callisto reached up and twirled a strand of hair. "Poor Billy." She said with a frown. "It looks like your friends have left you in the dark."

"You are an evil" Billy stopped short as an insane laugh filtered through the air.

As Callisto's laugh died down, she let go of the hair she was playing with. "Sleep tight." She said, getting ready to leave. She paused to grin at the former ranger. "Don't worry; tomorrow I'll bring you some company." And with that she was gone.

* * *

The next morning a former yellow ranger was packing a few of her things in a bag. "I'll be back in a few days." Aisha promised her mother.

"Be careful honey." Her mother cautioned. "Who knows what's out there."

"Mom I've made the trip plenty of times by now." She said as went and kissed her overly concerned mother on the cheek. "I'll be fine."

Her mother frowned. "I know but I still worry about you. You could get seriously injured out there."

"Don't worry about me mom." She said as she grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder. She quickly hugged her mom goodbye and headed outside.

Pausing for a second, she took a deep breath of fresh air in and exhaled slowly before taking off. Being in no real hurry, she chose the scenic route for her trip. She sighed as she walked under the hot African sun. "I was the yellow ranger and my mom stresses out about me walking through Africa. If only I could tell her." She said aloud, knowing that nobody was listening to her.

The bushes rustled and a zebra jumped out. Aisha jumped; startled at first before realizing he was as surprised to see her, as she was to see him. She stopped and watched as he walked off, pausing not too far from her to stop and eat. She stood there for a moment and watched the animal graze. "I wonder whose spirit guide you are." She said absentmindedly.

Aisha smiled as she started walking, before returning to her original thought. "Who am I kidding?" she spoke aloud once more. "My mom would freak out if she knew I was the yellow ranger. She'd worry someone would come after me, even if I assured her that would never happen."

"The funny thing is you believe you're actually safe." A voice spoke from behind her.

The former yellow ranger spun around, catching the fleeing zebra out of the corner of her eye as she faced the leather-clad woman. "Who are you?"

"Callisto, Goddess of War." She replied with a smile. "I'm here to bring you back with me."

Aisha dropped her bag to the ground and moved into fighting stance. "Don't count on it."

Callisto drew her sword. "Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Personally I prefer the easy way." She paused and let out a laugh as she glanced down at her sword. "Actually, I do like the hard way. Your choice."

Aisha ran to attack her but did not get very far. She swung at the goddess who immediately grabbed her hand and twisted her around. Within seconds she held Aisha tightly, her sword to her neck. "How disappointing." She said with a sigh. "Let's go."

Seconds later, Aisha found herself getting thrown toward an old friend. "I brought you that playmate I promised." Callisto said with a smile.

Billy caught her and helped her stay on her feet. "Are you alright?" he asked once she was standing.

"As good as I can be." Aisha replied with a smile. She was happy to see Billy, however she wished it was under better circumstances.

"I suppose I'll let the two of you catch up." Callisto said, as she looked them over. "Enjoy." With that, she was off to the Lunar Palace.

* * *

Kat walked into her cousin's room to find it an absolute disaster with her cousin sitting in the middle of the floor, her back turned. "Carri?" Kat questioned to get her attention.

"Hmm?" she replied, not looking up from what she was doing. She was leaving the next morning and she was way behind on what she needed to get done.

"It looks like a tornado came through here." The pink ranger pointed out. "Don't tell me you plan on leaving it like this." Carri was not a neat freak, which was ok, but if she left this room a disaster, her parents were going to flip. They were alright with Carri's room not being pristine, but they at least wanted it to be somewhat presentable.

Carri glanced back at her cousin briefly. "Of course not." Carri said, somewhat insulted that Kat thought she was going to leave it like this. "I just pulled everything out I might pack only I haven't packed and I have no idea what to pack."

The pink ranger thought for a moment about what she said before she responded. "Maybe you should pack clothes?"

Carri reached up and grabbed a pillow from her bed, quickly tossing it at her unsuspecting cousin. "You think?" she said sarcastically, turning back to continue going through her clothes.

Kat chuckled as she caught the pillow. Once Carri was preoccupied, again she tossed it back at her, hitting her in the back of the head. Carri paused briefly before speaking. "That was uncalled for." She said calmly without turning around.

Surprised by her cousin's reaction, Kat simply stood there staring blankly. Then out of nowhere, Carri tossed a beanbag ball at her and hit her with it. The yellow ranger turned to see Kat's reaction. The two girls stared at each other briefly before bursting into a fit of giggles.

"Need a hand?" Kat asked once they calmed down.

Carri snorted. "As many as I can get." She replied. She watched as Kat headed over toward her, then she started directing her on what to do to help her get ready for her vacation.

* * *

Rito walked in and glanced at the throne where a certain goddess had made herself comfortable. "Are they dead yet?" he asked as he approached.

"By they I assume you mean the rangers?" Callisto questioned with a frown. "Do you think I would be sitting here if they were all dead? I would be busy down on Earth, taking some well-deserved time for destruction and making people bow down to my feet."

"Uh, ok." Rito said, pausing to scratch his head. "But why do you want them at your feet again?"

Callisto shot Zedd a look. "He can't possibly be that stupid."

Zedd sighed. "The thought has crossed my mind several times." He replied. "Every time the answer is yes." He was an embarrassment to his evil empire, but he put up with him in the name of family.

"I wonder why." Callisto replied as she glanced at him.

Rito, acting oblivious to the discussion going on around him, continued speaking. "So, Calli, when do I go attack the rangers?"

Callisto flung him across the room harder than she ever had before. "When I am looking for an idiot to mess things up, I'll call you." She said, tossing him aside once more. He was going to learn his lesson if it killed him.

"Goddess Callisto," Goldar paused to bow down in front of her, "if it doesn't interfere with your plans, may I please take a group of Tengas to harass the red ranger?"

"Be my guest." Callisto said with a smile. "Just don't kill him. I would be disappointed if he died before I was ready. And you don't want to disappoint me."

"Yes my queen." Goldar said, standing and taking off.

Zedd he watched Goldar go. He was supposed to be his best, his most loyal warrior, yet any time someone he considered more powerful came along he sucked up to them. Goldar swore after the incident in the snow globe that he would not serve anyone else again. As long as he did not flat out betray him, he would not kill the overgrown ape, but he had his eye on him.

"What!" Rita screeched, pulling Zedd out of his thoughts. "You got him to say please? He never says please to me!"

Callisto tried to tune Rita's screeching out, but the longer she went on the louder she got. Finally, she'd had enough. "You have been quiet accommodating. I'd hate to have to permanently shut you up."

Not wanting to face the wrath of a crazy goddess, Rita shut up. Her husband let out a sigh of relief. "Finally." He mumbled, just as aggravated with her as Callisto was.

Callisto sat on the throne, smiling to herself. "It won't be too much longer now. Then everyone's problems will be solved. The rangers will be no more." She chuckled as she stood. "Speaking of the rangers, I think I'll go visit our friends." She said before taking off, leaving Rita and Zedd their palace.

* * *

Tommy glanced at his watch. He was supposed to meet the others at the theater for Men in Black, which was supposed to be much better than Batman and Robin, the last movie they saw as a group. He let out a groan as he realized the movie was starting soon. He was already late meeting the others and if he did not step it up a notch, he was going to be lucky to make the end of the previews.

The red ranger started to jog toward the theater. He did not get far when several figures materialized in front of him. He came to a halt and shifted into fighting stance. "Goldar." He said simply.

"Where do you think you're going red ranger?" the overgrown ape questioned.

"I was on my way to the movies, but now it looks like I'll have to take care of you first." Tommy said as he did a quick count of how many Tengas were with him.

"We shall see." Goldar replied with a snarl. "Tengas, attack!"

Tommy fought the Tengas unmorphed and by himself for a while. Eventually four multicolored streaks flew into view. "Nice of you to join me." Tommy said as he kicked a Tenga back.

"We were in a crowded theater." Rocky said as the others fought the Tengas.

Carri threw one of the birds on its back and turned toward their leader. "Waiting for our friend to join us." She couldn't resist the dig on their late leader.

"Yeah yeah." Tommy said as he watched them fight the Tengas. He looked around briefly to make sure the area was clear. "It's morphin time! Zeo ranger five, red!"

"Now we can fight red ranger." Goldar said as he ran to attack his opponent. He could have fought against him before, it would have been easier. However, it was more worthwhile to defeat a ranger with powers than one without.

"Fine by me." Tommy replied as the duo went at it.

The fight lasted a good ten minutes, with Goldar and Tommy exchanging blows and the rest of the team dancing all over the battlefield with the Tengas. Finally, Goldar threw Tommy off of him and motioned for the mostly beaten group of Tengas to join him. He could do some serious damage to the red ranger, but he did not want to go against the wishes of an insane goddess. "Until next time."

"Looks like we scared them off." Carri said as they watched their opponents' teleport away.

"We try." Rocky replied, grinning from behind his helmet.

Kat glanced over at the others. "Come on guys, the movie is going to start any minute."

"I don't have my ticket yet." Tommy said with a groan. He was going to miss the first fifteen minutes of the movie at this rate.

"See you there." Jason replied, ignoring his comment as the remaining rangers' teleported back.

Tommy thought for a moment. He was going to be late because of the rangers. Technically this was ranger related. Cheating he teleported to the ally beside the theater before powering down. He ran up to the ticket window and grabbed a ticket, barely making it to a seat in time for the opening credits.

* * *

The next morning, the blue and yellow rangers found themselves sitting in the airport enjoying each others company until the last possible second. A voice broke through the speakers, indicating that their time was up. "Last call for flight ten sixty-seven to San Francisco."

"I'd better go." Carri said as she broke away from her boyfriend. "Or else I'll miss my flight."

Rocky grinned goofily at her. "I'd hate for that to happen."

"Sure you would." Carri replied with a quick roll of her eyes. "Then I'd be stuck here with you."

Rocky shrugged. "You can't blame a guy for wanting that."

The yellow ranger did not reply, she simply leaned over and gave her boyfriend a kiss before standing up. "I'll talk to you when I get back." She said, giving him a wave as she picked up her carry-on bag.

"Bye." Rocky said as she headed for the gate. He waited until she disappeared, then he stood and headed for the exit. It was only eight in the morning, much too early to be in the airport, but it was worth it to see Carri off.

He yawned and stretched as he walked out. It was time to make up some sleep. He figured he would be able to, seeing as how Rita and Zedd have been moving slowly the last few days. The only attack was yesterday's, and that was just Goldar going after Tommy again. Of course they could be planning something, but how bad could that be?

Enjoying the idea of an attack-less few days, Rocky smiled as he exited the airport and headed toward his car.

* * *

On another continent, two teens were enjoying what was in Paris an evening stroll through the city. Trini smiled as she glanced over at her friend. "It's such a beautiful city."

"Yeah." Zack agreed. "I'm glad they let us stay behind." They had been doing some work with the Peace Conferences in Paris. Since they were not needed to work for a few days, they were given the time to stay in the city and relax.

Zack sighed and Trini glanced over at him. "Something wrong?" she asked. She had known Zack long enough to know that was a "something's bothering me" sigh. It was just a matter of whether or not he would spill everything.

The former ranger looked over at Trini briefly before turning his gaze back toward the city. "It's just… you know Paris is nice and all. Europe is nice. I wouldn't mind seeing home though."

"Home?" Trini questioned, raising an eyebrow as he nodded. "As in Angel Grove home?" He nodded again and she continued. "You don't want to leave the Peace Conferences too do you?"

"No of course not." He spoke quickly. He knew Trini was sad when Jason left, he was rather bummed to see his friend go too. However, Jason could not stay there any longer. After their first initial stay with the Peace Conferences was over, Jason missed California, missed his friends and the rangers, and took off, while he and Trini stayed behind and reenlisted. "I'd just like to see Angel Grove, only for a little while."

"Wish granted." A voice spoke from behind the former rangers. They turned quickly to see a woman standing there.

"Who are you?" Zack questioned, his gut instinct telling him that this had something to do with the rangers.

"What do you want with us?" Trini chimed in, thinking the same thing as Zack.

"The name's Callisto. Remember that." She said with a wicked grin as she let that sink in. "And you said you wanted to visit so I'm taking you there. Well sort of there. We're going to an island, just west of Angel Grove, where you can be my prisoners."

"When I said I wanted to see Angel Grove, that wasn't exactly what I had in mind." Zack said as he and Trini inched backward, both trying to figure out if they could fight their way out of this. "So we're going to have to pass."

Callisto laughed her insanity obvious to the former rangers. "No, that wasn't an option." She said, and with a wave of her hand, she knocked the two rangers down hard enough to send them into unconsciousness. "No one refuses me." She waved her hand and sent the duo to her cage to join the rest of her captured rangers.

* * *

After a short flight, Carri found herself dragging her things down a hallway as she read room numbers. Finally finding the place she was looking for, she dropped her bags to open the door. She pulled her room key out and swiped it in the lock. The door clicked open and she pushed her way in, dragging her things behind her.

The long haired brunette standing in the room jumped and turned when Carri came in. "Sorry." The yellow ranger apologized. "I didn't mean to startle you."

The girl smiled at her roommate. "It's ok." She said as she walked over and extended her hand. "Sherry Olsen."

Carri's bag hit the floor with a thud as she extended her hand. "Carri Hillard." She introduced herself as they shook hands.

"So I think we're waiting on one more girl." Sherry informed her.

Carri nodded in acknowledgment. "Do you know who she is?" she asked. Not that it would make a difference; the chances that knowing who she was ahead of time would matter were slim to none.

Sherry shook her head no. "I didn't see names, just locations. I knew I had a west coast roommate and an east coast roommate."

Carri raised a hand. "I'm the west coaster." She said with a grin. "I'm from Angel Grove, California." When Sherry looked at her curiously, she continued. "It's just outside of LA. It's the town that's always on the news with monster attacks."

"Oh." Sherry replied as her eyes lit up with recognition. She did not know anything about Angel Grove, but she had heard of the monster attacks. Although a lot of people were not sure what the deal with them was. She would have to ask Carri later. "I'm from Charlotte, North Carolina."

"Ok." Carri said with a nod. She knew where that was; she had cousins on her mother's side that were from North Carolina.

"So." Sherry said with a smile, thinking of the next logical step to take the conversation. "What sport do you play?" That was a good question. It was, after all, the entire point of them both being here.

"Baseball." Carri said with a grin. "I was a pitcher for Angel Grove High."

"Cool." Sherry said, smiling back at her. She did not know female baseball players, but what Carri did was very close to what she did. "I was a softball pitcher for North Meck."

Carri nodded. They were both pitchers, which was somewhat cool, although they were two different kinds of pitchers. She glanced around the hotel room and noticed the stairs. "We have an upstairs?" she asked the obvious question as she headed over there.

"Yes." Sherry replied. She had already checked out the place. "There are two beds up there, and the living room has a couch bed. I figure we could decide who sleeps where when everybody gets here."

"As long as we don't have a stuck up third roommate who chooses for everyone." Carri said as she frowned to herself. "Then there will be fighting." At least she will be fighting. She does not do well taking orders from someone who has no right or reason to be giving her orders.

"I trust that the people who were chosen to come here are good people as well as being athletically inclined." Sherry replied. She had not given much thought to if her roommates were going to be horrible people. Carri seemed nice enough; she figured her last roommate would be as well.

Carri chuckled. "Athletically inclined. That's right. I'm going to have to remember to point that out to Tommy when I get back." She said as she glanced over at Sherry. "I'm going to go check out the upstairs."

With that, the yellow ranger headed upstairs, leaving Sherry alone. As Carri took off, the door opened again and their last roommate entered. "Hello." Sherry greeted her.

"Hey." She said as she smiled at her and looked around. "This is nice."

Sherry watched as she set her bags down next to Carri's. Once her hands were free, she went and introduced herself to her. "Sherry Olsen." She said, extending her hand.

The new girl took her hand and shook it briefly. "Kimberly Hart." She replied as she glanced at the pile of bags on the floor. "I know all these aren't yours."

"Some of them belong to our third roommate. She's upstairs." Sherry said as she gestured toward the steps.

"Cool." Kim replied as she glanced over toward the set of stairs. "Am I going to get to meet her?" she asked with a grin.

"I love this bedroom." Carri called down to Sherry, unaware of their third roommate's arrival. The closet was huge for a hotel and the bathroom was nicer than the small one she had at her aunt and uncle's.

"Come down here and meet our roommate." Sherry called up the stairs.

Kim made a face. There was something familiar about the voice at the top of the stairs, but she could not quite put her finger on it. As her mystery roommate descended, she immediately realized what it was. "Carri?" she questioned excitedly, thrilled to see the yellow ranger there.

"Kim?" Carri asked in surprise as she ran over to give a friend a hug. The two let go of each other and Carri crossed her arms over her chest. "I can't believe you were coming to California and you didn't tell us." She tried to sound disappointed, but the look on her face over the excitement of seeing her friend deceived her.

"Well you know." Kim said with a shrug. "I figured with Tommy and Kat… well you know… I might make a mess of things… again… I'm good at that." She paused and Carri snorted. With a sigh she continued, switching conversations to avoid anything that involved Tommy and Kat. "And did you think you were going to go on this trip and not let me know?"

Carri was glad Kim did not ask her opinion on the Tommy and Kat situation. Tommy loved Kim, end of story. That did not change simply because he was with Kat. She could tell from looking at him interact with the two. And as much as she loved her cousin, Kat was a love struck idiot. She was too blind by her love for Tommy to acknowledge the facts. Kat thought Tommy would one day love her more, and although Carri thought they had a better chance of Rita and Zedd packing up and leaving, she was keeping her mouth shut for the most part. It was a small miracle, one that Rocky and Jason were working overtime to achieve. As long as everyone was happy, Carri should not stir things up. It was "for the good of the team". For now, she was reluctantly agreeing.

Pushing that train of thought aside, she responded to Kim. "I should have known you'd be here. You have more talent than me. I mean there's me," she paused and put one hand down low, "then there's you." She finished, putting the other hand up high.

"So what exactly is your sport?" Sherry questioned, curious now that Carri was giving Kim all that praise.

"Gymnastics." Kim replied with a smile.

Carri glanced down at her bags. "We need to figure out where we are going to sleep so we can get somewhat settled."

"How about you to take the two upstairs beds and I'll sleep on the couch bed." Sherry suggested. She did not mind, they were obviously old friends and she did not want to deny them the chance to catch up. There would be plenty of time for the three of them to talk.

"Are you sure?" Kim questioned. She hated making her sleep on the couch bed.

"Go ahead." Sherry said making a gesture to suggest it was not a big deal.

"Ok, great." Kim said as she and Carri grabbed their bags and started to drag them upstairs. The chatter between the three of them filled the room as their vacation began.

* * *

The four former rangers were sitting in a cage together and discussing their situation. They immediately silenced when their captor returned. "I see you've awakened. Good." Callisto said as she glanced at the two from Paris. "Although it didn't really matter if it was now or two days from now as long as you were up for the show."

"Well if you hadn't knocked us out to begin with, we wouldn't have had that problem." Zack pointed out. Whether it was a good idea to talk to her like that, he was not sure. However, the situation could not get much worse than what it was.

"Silence!" Callisto said as she sent a shock through the former black ranger.

Zack collapsed to his knees and Aisha knelt down beside him to help him. "She's crazy." Aisha said as she pulled Zack to his feet. "I wouldn't mess with her."

"Crazy? You think I'm crazy?" Callisto asked with a laugh as she leaped toward the cage. She watched the rangers scatter backward and she smiled. "That's right boys and girls be afraid." With a cackling laugh, she disappeared, leaving them with the Tengas.

"We've got to find a way out of here." Trini said as she looked around.

"I agree." Billy replied. He had wanted to see Trini again for a long time but he never wanted their meeting to be like this. He sighed and continued. "Although an escape is not probable, she would simply be able to capture us again."

"What if we could get to the rangers first?" Aisha questioned. It was a long shot they all knew it. None of them were active rangers, none of them had communicators. The chances that Zordon and Alpha would randomly spot them were slim to none.

"I'm not sure that would work." Billy said with a frown.

Everyone was silent for a moment. Finally Zack spoke. "You guys, we can't give up hope."

"What should we do?" Trini asked. There was no solution presenting itself and it was hard to remain hopeful in their situation.

Billy sighed. He agreed with Zack but right now, they only had one option. "All we can do is wait. Hopefully the rangers get to us before she gets to them."

* * *

Rocky found himself landing flat on the pavement. "Foul!" he yelled the second his butt hit the floor.

"Come on Rocky, you intentionally fell." Tommy protested. He was not going to lose with an unfair foul call.

Rocky's teammate went and stood next to him as the blue ranger pulled himself to his feet. "Look bro, how can you be sure of that?" Jason asked. "It's dark out here in case you didn't notice."

"Tommy's right." Raymond was quick to agree with his teammate.

"Why don't you guys just call it quits?" Kat suggested as she walked over to the foursome. They had not seen Raymond in a while and she knew they were having fun, but it was too dark to keep playing. "You can just call it a tie."

"A tie?" Rocky repeated skeptically. "No way. We're winning."

Tommy laughed as Kat sighed. "The game isn't over and you can't see five feet in front of you. You'll never finish."

"Kat's right." Tommy agreed with a grin. They were only two points behind, but he was not sure if they would be able to see to make the basket.

"Fine we'll call it a night." Jason replied. There was no point in playing anymore. "But it's not a tie, we won."

"We're calling it a draw." Raymond protested.

"You can't call it a draw when we were up by two." Rocky was quick to point out. He would call it finished for the night, but it was not a tie.

"Let them have it. We'll just have to have a rematch during the day." Tommy said. Once they could see clearly, they would cream Rocky and Jason.

"What about Friday?" Raymond asked as he looked toward the other three boys. There was a chorus of yes's and Raymond continued. "Friday it is then."

"And we'll win then too." Jason was quick to speak.

Before it could turn into an argument over who was the better basketball team, Kat grabbed Tommy by the hand. "Let's go over to my house." She suggested.

"Alright." Tommy said as he looked over at the others. "See you guys later."

As Tommy took off, Jason looked at the remaining two players. "Want to go to the juice bar?" he asked. They both answered yes and the trio left, leaving the basketball court empty.

* * *

It was bright and early in the morning east coast time when two people were sitting at a table having breakfast. "How many days did you get off?" Tanya asked her boyfriend as he took a giant spoonful of cereal.

Adam held up two fingers in response as he chewed and swallowed. Tanya smiled at him and continued. "That's as many as I got."

The former green ranger nodded in acknowledgment. "I know." He said simply.

"You're a man of few words today." Tanya commented. It was not like Adam, at least not when she was around. The two of them together, not worried about their future, would talk constantly.

"I'm not awake yet." Adam replied with a smile.

"What time did you come in last night?" Tanya questioned, raising an eyebrow. She knew he had not made it home by eleven, but she went to bed shortly after that and he was there when she woke up this morning.

Adam held up four fingers this time. When Tanya shot him a look, he elaborated. "There were a lot of people there, a lot of people I was told were worth making friends with in this business. And Carri's brother was there and he introduced me to some of his actor friends and we partied." It was the first time he had seen Josh in almost a year. However, it was his father's party so it was no surprise that he was there. They said hello and Josh invited him to hang out with his group for a while.

"Uh-huh." Tanya replied, giving him a look.

"I'm sorry I got in so late." He said as he leaned over and kissed her. "It won't happen again, I promise."

Tanya gave a half smile. "Well at least today is a vacation day and you don't have to go anywhere this morning."

"But vacation means going somewhere." A voice said as a woman materialized in front of them. "Don't worry though, I have somewhere for you to go."

Adam snapped his attention toward their visitor. "Callisto." He said immediately recognizing her, jumping up and standing in fighting stance. "Tanya get out of here."

"Adam I'm not leaving you alone." Tanya said. His reaction indicated a serious threat, and since he was no longer a ranger, she was not going to let him face it by himself.

The former green ranger sighed in response, knowing he would not get her to change her mind as he turned his focus to the goddess. "What do you want?"

"It's nice to see you again too green ranger." Callisto paused shortly and cocked her head. "Wait, its former green ranger now isn't it?" she asked with a laugh.

"Just because I no longer have my Zeonizers doesn't mean I can't take you on." Adam said, his words showing more confidence than he felt.

Callisto laughed once more. "Look at the former ranger. Trying to be brave in front of his girlfriend."

"Leave her out of this." Adam snapped, not wanting anything to happen to her because of him. "This is between you and me."

"That's where you're wrong." Callisto said, her somewhat jovial attitude gone and a more serious one in its place. "This is a former ranger party." She said, and with a wave of her hand, they were transported back to her cave.

"Callisto!" Adam yelled as he saw the bars separating himself and the goddess. She simply laughed in response and teleported herself away. Adam sighed and turned, finally noticing all the other former rangers in there with him. This was not a good sign. Last time she was here she almost killed Carri and Kat. Now she is going after everyone who ever held a morpher. Whatever she had planned was not going to be good.

* * *

Jason walked into a small office, where Rocky was sitting at a desk doing paperwork. "Come on, Speed two won't wait for us forever." He was trying to get everyone to go see Speed two the other day, but Carri said Sandra annoyed her, and once she put her foot down there was no chance of him talking her into going. Now that she was gone, he and Rocky decided to go check it out.

"As soon as I finish this paperwork I'll be ready." Rocky replied, briefly glancing up at the green ranger.

"Paperwork?" Jason questioned. He was a part time lifeguard. He did not know that entailed paperwork.

The blue ranger shrugged in response. "Save a life, fill out forms until you die." It did not make any sense to him either, but any time he had to rush out there and save someone, he had to document officially it afterward.

Jason simply shook his head as he glanced at the forms that still needed to be completed. "I'm going to walk to the beach club. I'll be there when you're done."

He waited for Rocky to acknowledge him then he left. The beach club was not that far from the main office building the lifeguard's occupied. It only took him a few minutes to get over there once he was outside. He immediately spotted someone who had his back turned toward him, and he walked up behind her and put his hands on her waist. "Hey babe." He said as he leaned in toward her ear.

Startled, Emily jumped and spun around. "Jason!" she exclaimed before whacking him on the shoulder. "Don't do that!" She got plenty of male attention on the beach, and although she would hope it was Jason she could not say what guy was trying to sneak up on her and grab her.

"Forgive me?" Jason questioned, giving her his best puppy dog look. He watched as Emily rolled her eyes before leaning in and giving him a kiss. "Are we still on for tonight?" he asked once she stepped back.

"Me, go out with you?" Emily asked in mock surprise. "What an odd thought."

"I know everyone wants to go out with a stud like me." Jason said with a grin. "You're lucky; you're the only one I'm giving the opportunity to."

"I feel like I won a prize." Emily said, making it look as though she just hit the jackpot on the Price is Right.

Jason chuckled and watched as she smiled. "I just thought I'd come say hello. I'm waiting on Rocky to finish up and we're heading toward the movies."

Emily smiled and pointed to the approaching figure. "I think he was done faster than you thought." She said as she leaned up and gave him another kiss. "Have fun." She called out before turning and returning to work.

"I'm done." Rocky said as he approached. He was surprised; it had not taken him as long as he thought it would.

"Good. Any longer and we would have made even Tommy look on time." Jason made a joke at his absent friend's expense.

Rocky chuckled. "That's hard to do." As long as he had been friends with the rangers, Tommy had been late to just about everything.

The green ranger smiled in agreement. "Let's go." He said as he headed out toward the parking lot. Rocky was quick to fall in step beside him, and the two male rangers took off for the movie theater.

* * *

After the movies, the blue ranger headed to the Youth Center and ordered himself something to drink. He sat down just as one of his teammates approached the table. "Hey." Tommy greeted as he sat. "Sorry I couldn't make the movies with you guys, but David and I had plans."

"Don't worry about it." Rocky replied with a shrug. He was not going to hold visiting his brother against the red ranger. "Besides, you didn't miss much. Speed two wasn't as good as the first one."

"That's what I heard." Tommy replied.

"You heard it was bad and you let us go anyway?" Rocky questioned.

Tommy laughed. "Sorry." He said his tone far from apologetic. Rocky chuckled in response and Tommy continued. "Anyway, I came here to find you to see if you had plans tonight."

"Nope." Rocky replied. His schedule was pretty simple. He either worked or had plans with one of the rangers. That was not a bad thing; the rangers were the closest people to him. Tonight, since one ranger was out of town and the other was on a date, he was pretty much open.

"We were trying to gather a group to go bowling. You want to go?" Tommy questioned as he glanced toward him. "Jason and Emily are a date so it is going to be me, you and Kat." He supposed he could have taken the opportunity to make it a date night himself, but he couldn't ignore inviting the blue ranger on what was supposed to be a group night.

"Sure why not." Rocky replied. It was going to be odd going with Tommy and Kat, but they were all friends. He knew they were not the type to let him be the third wheel. At least Tommy wasn't. A few months ago, he would not have thought twice about it, however since they got back from Florida Kat has been hanging on to Tommy more.

"Let's go." Tommy said standing and leading Rocky out the front door. They took Tommy's jeep to the bowling alley, and they got there in a decent amount of time. They headed in and rented shoes before taking off toward the lane that the pink ranger was perched at.

"You're late." Kat teased the duo as they approached.

"We'll try harder next time." Tommy promised as he walked over and gave her a quick kiss.

Rocky said down and took his shoes off. "Technically it's Tommy who's late." He could not be late; he did not know they had a time to be there. "I'm just along for the ride."

"He's right." Tommy admitted with a grin as he sat and took his shoes off as well.

"I'm not surprised it's your fault." Kat said, making brief eye contact with her boyfriend and giggling.

Tommy simply smiled in response as he put his bowling shoes on. He could not help it. He did not ever intend on being late, it just happened that way. He finished tying his shoes and he stood. "Come on Rocky, let's go get a ball. I don't want to make Kat wait any longer." He said with a smile.

As Tommy and Rocky walked off, Kat entered their names so they could start the game. When they got back, it was obvious they were in the middle of a debate. "I'm telling you I'm going to win." Tommy said as his ball clanked down.

Rocky set his ball down as well. "Dream on. I'm going to take you out."

"Boys." Kat said, hitting enter and standing. "There's no point arguing, I'm going to win." With that, she grabbed her ball and headed for the approach. Her first ball knocked over six pins, her second three more. "Nine pins, not bad." She said as she sat back down.

"I'll show you how it's done." Rocky said, grabbing his ball and going to take his turn. Seconds later the ball hit the head pin. At first, the two pins that sat at the back of each side of the lane fought to stand, but Rocky hit the pins hard enough that they were all flying. Fortunately for him, two rogue pins smacked into the two back pins, knocking them over. "Strike." He said cockily as he sat back down.

Tommy rolled his eyes and got up for his turn. He left one pin in the dead center of the lane, and with his second ball, he knocked it over. It looked as though it was going to be a match between the two boys.

Forty minutes later, Tommy and Rocky glanced up at the scoreboard in disbelief. "Well…" Rocky said, letting his voice trail off.

"I don't believe it." Was Tommy's only response.

Kat walked up behind them. "Am I good or what?" she questioned. The two boys had tied for second place, both five pins behind the pink ranger.

Rocky and Tommy sighed as they changed back into their sneakers. The trio went to pay for their game before heading to the Youth Center, spending the rest of their night sipping smoothies and chatting with Ernie.

* * *

The next morning Callisto arrived in the Lunar Palace. "Good morning Zedd." She said in an overly chipper voice. Her plan was going better than she expected. She was thrilled.

"How is the plan coming along?" Zedd questioned. He needed those rangers out of his hair. He was ready to make this pathetic planet his.

"Better than I hoped." Callisto replied with a slight laugh. "In fact, it is almost complete. I just have a favor to ask." She paused and smiled. "Actually it's not a favor, I'm going to tell you what to do and you'll do it."

Zedd sighed. He did not know what he was about to be forced into doing and he was not sure he was going to like it. However, his only real choice was to go along with her orders. "If it will get rid of the rangers I would be glad to help."

"Good." Callisto said with a nod. "Now let's go visit our friends. Make sure they are not dead. Yet." With an insane laugh, Callisto took off, Zedd following behind her.

* * *

"Aye ai ai!" Alpha exclaimed as he rushed to the controls. "Zordon, we have an incoming message."

"Calm down Alpha and put it on the screen." Zordon said, trying to get the robot to not panic.

"It's from Lord Zedd." Alpha said a worried tone in his robotic voice. Nothing from Zedd could be good.

"Alert the four rangers in Angel Grove." Zordon told him. He was not going to alert Carri yet. He did not think she would be in a position to get away and he was not going to risk it unless it was necessary. "Tell them to teleport here immediately."

Alpha immediately went to contact the others, and a few seconds later four multi colored streaks flew into the Power Chamber. "Alright Alpha." Tommy said as he turned toward the screen. "Put Zedd on."

A few seconds later, Zedd's face filled the entire screen. "Hello rangers." He greeted.

"I doubt this is a social call." Tommy replied, refusing to return his greeting. Zedd was not contacting them to say hello. "What do you want?"

"Always right to the point, aren't we?" Zedd questioned. When Tommy did not reply he continued. "What I want is simple. I want your Zeonizers."

Rocky snickered. "So what, you think if you just ask nice enough we'll hand them over?" Zedd knew better than that.

"It doesn't work like that." Jason pointed out. He had a feeling there was more to this request. Zedd was many things, but stupid was not one of them.

Zedd laughed. He knew that would be the answer. "Rangers I wouldn't make a request like that without offering you some incentive."

"What might that be?" Tommy questioned. That he would stop attacking Earth if they would quit being rangers? Whatever it was, he was not going to buy it.

"Simple." Zedd said. He then stepped aside, and the scene behind them came into view. He had Carri, bound and gagged, hanging over a lava pit.

A wave of panic hit the blue ranger. "Let her go Zedd!" he yelled.

"Not until you give me your Zeonizers." He replied with a laugh. "I've sent coordinates to my location. Don't bother trying to teleport your little ranger out; I've blocked all signals going out."

"And if we refuse?" Tommy questioned. He was honestly at a loss over what to do. They could not give Zedd their Zeonizers and let him take over the world. However, they could not let Carri die either.

"Well then," Zedd paused and shot a beam out of his staff, causing the rope that was holding Carri up to split a bit and her to get pulled down closer to the lava, "I'll just finish the job off." The rangers gasped and he continued. "There is only one way this ends well for her. I wouldn't take too long if I were you." With that, Zedd ended the transmission.

"We've got to save her." Rocky spoke quickly. He could not believe this was happening, that she had been captured and they did not even know about it. He would do whatever it took to get her back.

"Not without a plan." Jason replied. They could not rush in there and put the world at risk just to save one life, she would not want that. He loved Carri like a sister and he wanted to save her just as much as Rocky did, but they were going to have to be smart about it.

Kat made a face. They needed to come up with something, some way to save her cousin. "Maybe we could give him fake Zeonizers, throw him off guard." She suggested.

Jason shook his head no. "We've tried something like that; I don't think he'll fall for it twice." He paused for a second then continued. "Besides, this is Zedd we're talking about, there's no guarantee he'll let her go."

"I have an idea." Tommy started as all eyes turned toward him. "Let's morph and teleport down there. As soon as we hit the ground, Rocky you run and grab Carri, and swing both of you to the other side. I'll fire on the rope with my pistol and you can both land safely beside the lava pit."

Jason thought for a moment. "That just might work bro. We have to time it perfectly, and we'll only get one shot."

"Let's make it count then." Tommy said as the others nodded. "It's morphin time!"

Seconds later the rangers were ready. Alpha then teleported them into the cave. As soon as they materialized, they collapsed to the ground. A high-pitched noise, which was only able to be picked up by morphed rangers, pierced through the cave. The rangers were in more pain than imaginable.

A few seconds later, the noise stopped. That was when the rangers realized they had powered down and were in some sort of cage. Rocky was the first to jump up. "Carri!" he called out toward her as he ran toward the bars of the cage.

"Don't." Adam said as he grabbed the blue ranger before he could grab the bars. "They're electric."

Aisha walked over and set a hand on her friend. "That's not who you think it is." She assured him. She could tell he was panicking. She knew who the girl was; Adam filled her in when Zedd and Callisto started this particular charade.

"What do you mean?" Tommy asked as the lava pit below Carri disappeared, along with the ropes and the gag. Carri fell to the floor and transformed back into Callisto.

"Callisto!" Jason exclaimed as he jumped toward the front of the group.

"Very good, you remember my name." Callisto replied with a laugh.

Jason glanced over toward Tommy. He remembered more than her name. He remembered how she almost killed his friends last time she was in town. He was not going to let that happen again. "If we morph we can take her." He whispered to Tommy.

Callisto held up a finger and wagged it in the air. "Didn't you learn your lesson?" she questioned with a grin. "The force field I created causes pain for any morphed ranger. I wouldn't try if I was you." She paused and laughed. "Although it is fun for me to watch. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a certain yellow ranger I need to make trouble for."

"Leave her alone!" Rocky exclaimed. Callisto simply laughed in response and teleported off. Rocky let out a frustrated grunt, and, forgetting Adam's warning, he leaned on the bars. He was immediately thrown forward by the shock.

Tommy went over to help him up. "Are you ok?" he asked.

"Yeah." Rocky replied as he let Tommy pull him to his feet. "We've got to get out of here."

"At this moment I don't believe that to be possible." Billy replied. They had spent most of their time in here trying. If there was a way out, they would have found it by now.

Jason made a face. "We can't let Callisto run wild on Earth." He said as his frustrations grew. "We have to stop her." They had to do something, anything other than just sit here and wait.

"There are still two rangers out there." Zack pointed out. "Kim and your yellow ranger." Kim did not have her powers, although that did not seem to matter, as morphed rangers could not be in here anyway.

"I'm worried for your yellow ranger. Callisto has made it known that she's after her." Aisha said. That was not what Rocky wanted to hear, and she realized it the moment the statement left her lips.

"She can handle herself." Kat assured her friend. Although Kat was not completely sure of that statement. After all this was Callisto they were talking about.

"I'm sure she can. After all, she's a ranger." Aisha paused for a second before continuing. "But Callisto is powerful."

"She knows and she doesn't care." Rocky said as he turned toward Aisha. He was worried Callisto was going to kill her. That was the only way the goddess would let this end. "She's fought her before; she won't hesitate to go against her, especially if it's to save us and the world."

"What about Kim?" Trini asked, more concerned about one of her closest friends now. "She's not a ranger anymore."

Tommy nodded in agreement. "I'm more concerned with her safety at the moment." He was not going to let anything happen to Kim; especially not now that he knew she still loved him.

"Callisto just brought the rest of us here." Tanya pointed out. "She hasn't mentioned Kim; I think she'll just bring her here as well."

Jason let out a frustrated sound as he started to pace. "I can't stand sitting here." He said. Especially now that the fact that Kim, who was like a sister to him before he went to the Peace Conferences, was out there for Callisto to attack as well. "We have to do something."

"I agree." Zack said as he watched Jason walk back and forth. "But there isn't anything we can do now."

Jason stopped pacing and turned toward Zack. The original black ranger was right, but that did not make things better. He sat down and it was not long before the others joined him. They were all quiet, worried about the future and hoping this would all work out.

* * *

Sherry, Kim and Carri were sitting together in a row on an airplane talking. Carri turned toward Kim, who was in the middle seat, and smiled. "Well you know how easily I get confused." She said with a laugh as she leaned against the window.

Kim grinned as she glanced over toward her. "Well you know how confused I get sometimes."

Both girls giggled. As the laughter died down, their row became silent. Sherry was the first to speak. "I can't wait to get to the island." She said with a smile. She was excited; this was an amazing vacation opportunity.

"Well we're supposed to get there soon." Carri replied with a smile as she glanced briefly at her companions. "You know this vacation is just what I needed. It's only the third morning and already I feel better, less stressed." She commented as she put her head back and closed her eyes. No monster fighting, no worries about the upcoming semester, no watching Kat uselessly fawn over Tommy… it was nice.

"You're telling me." Kim replied with a sigh. She had been under a lot of stress lately. "Coach wants me to go for the two thousand Olympics."

Carri's eyes flew open as she turned toward her friend. "Kim that's great!"

"Yeah." Kim replied with a half-smile. "But I don't see myself in Australia." It was not that she did not think she could do it. It was that she did not know if she wanted to. She felt like she should, but at the same time, there were things she missed that were ignored for her gymnastic career.

"I see you in Australia." Carri replied. "I see me in Australia." She continued. "If you go to the Olympics, I'll definitely go there. Kill two birds with one stone. Visit family, and watch you win." She paused as she thought about it. "Speaking of Australia, I need to go visit sometime. It is too late to go before classes start, but maybe this fall. You want to go?"

"I'd love to although I don't know if I'd have time with gymnastics practice." Kim replied with a sigh. If she was going to be a gymnast, she had to be completely involved with gymnastics. "I did get to go once, but stuff came up and I didn't really get to see much."

Carri could not help but snort. She knew the trip Kim was referring to. She mentioned taking Rocky once, and he told her he had been; only he did not get to site see. Rita and Zedd coordinated their wedding with the ranger's trip. It did not make for much of a vacation. "I hate stuff. My whole summer has been stuff. Kat wanted to take Tommy to Australia but we've been overloaded with stuff."

"Trust me I remember Angel Grove life." She actually missed being a ranger but there was no point dwelling on that. "So Kat's taking Tommy?"

Carri shrugged and rolled her eyes. "She wants to. She wants to show him where she was born. Plus it is kind of romantic out there, which is probably why she wants to go." Carri said as she rolled her eyes. "Don't get me wrong, it is beautiful countryside, sometimes I wish I had gotten to grow up there, but I don't think Tommy wants to go. Not with her anyway."

Kim felt a blush creep into her cheeks. She quickly decided to change the subject. "So how old were you when you moved to Angel Grove?"

"Almost one." Carri said as she glanced toward Kim. "My mom wanted to get me back here with dad and Josh as soon as possible. Which worked out, I love California."

The two girls giggled as Sherry spoke. "Not to interrupt, but who is this Tommy person you keep referring to?" She had heard the name mentioned several times and it was obvious there was something there, she just could not figure out what.

"Who's Tommy?" Kim repeated, someone surprised by the question.

Carri simply rolled her eyes. "I think I'll let you handle that one. You're the expert." She said as she leaned into the seat and closed her eyes once more.

Kim watched as Carri appeared to be nodding off. She turned toward Sherry and thought for a moment. Who is Tommy was a complicated question. She supposed the best way to start was to go back to when he first moved to Angel Grove.

* * *

The pilot and copilot sat in the cockpit of the plane, looking at the ship's navigational tools. "There's the island." The pilot commented as it came up on their radar. He was glad; he wanted to get back to the mainland. He did not know why they got selected to fly these girls to this island resort. The whole thing was somewhat weird if you asked him.

"Good." The copilot replied as he glanced at the gauges. "We're running out of fuel."

The pilot glanced over at him. "That's impossible; we fueled up before we left. We should have enough to get here and back."

"I thought we did too…" the copilot's voice trailed off as he sat straight up. "Something's wrong here, I'm not positive we are going to the right place anymore. The navigation systems are going crazy."

"We've kept on course." The pilot was quick to point out. "This has to be the right island."

The copilot moved to contact the tower and got no response. "Communications are out." He said with a frown. "This can't be happening."

"I don't like the looks of this." The pilot replied. They were going to have to land and hope this was the right place; they did not seem to have a choice.

"Me neither." The copilot replied as a small light came on. "We're out of fuel."

The pilot came in closer to the island. "We're going to have to land." He said as he looked around. He quickly realized there was no landing strip. They were going to have simply put the plane down. "Alert the passengers." He said grimly. "We're going to have to make a crash landing."

* * *

Kim found herself regaining consciousness on the beach. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked back at the plane in flames. She remembered what happened now. They crashed and she was among the last of the passengers to exit. She and Carri had taken time to make sure everyone got out ahead of them. One of the engines caught fire, and as the plane exploded, it threw several of them across the island.

She looked over and saw Carri still out nearby. Pulling herself up, she ran to check on her friend. "Carri?" she questioned as she grabbed her shoulder. Her friend moaned and she let out a sigh of relief. At least she was alive.

"My head is pounding." Carri grumbled as Kim helped her sit up.

"Are you alright?" Kim asked as she looked her over for any injury.

Carri took a second to stretch out her arms and legs, make sure everything was working properly. "I think so." She said as she stood.

She and Kim looked around the island. Those on the plane were scattered around, some laying on the beach some standing. Fortunately, they had gotten everyone off in time. The flight attendants had been somewhat grateful that they were level headed enough to take the lead. They all had training in case of emergency, but they were all somewhat panicked themselves. For Kim and Carri, thinking clearly and getting everyone to safety was a natural extension from being a ranger.

Before either could say anything more, Carri's communicator went off. Both girls glanced at each other before taking off to find a secure spot. "Go ahead Zordon." Carri said once they were well hidden from the others.

"All the rangers past and present have been captured." Zordon quickly informed her. He should have seen this sooner. Once his rangers were captured he and Alpha started to research. That was when he realized what was going on.

"Past and present?" Kim repeated. That did not seem right. Why would someone go after past rangers?

"I am afraid so Kimberly." Zordon replied. "Everyone who has ever been touched by the power has been captured by Callisto."

"Callisto?" questioned Kim.

Kim's voice was lost over Carri's. "Callisto." She growled. "I have to stop her."

"That would not be wise." Zordon replied. He could not afford to lose Earth's last hope.

Carri ignored their mentor's statement. "I'll morph and kick her"

"That is how the rest of the Zeo team was captured." Zordon quickly interrupted her. "Callisto has put up a force field that will painfully power down any morphed ranger."

Carri glanced up at Kim. "Then we'll attack without powers." She said, watching as Kim nodded in agreement.

"With Callisto's powers and the Tengas by her side, I must order you not to." Zordon spoke quickly. "You two are Earth's last hope. You must find another way to save the others and protect the planet."

"Let's teleport to the Power Chamber." Kim said. She was more than ready to put her life on the line in some sort of ranger capacity again.

"There is too much atmospheric interference to teleport." Zordon replied. It was why they initially could not find Carri, why Alpha thought she really was in that cage. The interference masked her signal for a while.

"Zordon?" Carri questioned as the transmission started to break up. "I can hardly hear you."

Zordon knew the transmission would not last much longer. They were lucky that Alpha rigged it so he could fill his rangers in. "Good luck and may the"

Carri frowned as the communication abruptly ended. "Now what?" She had been in dire situations before, but this topped the list. She was not quite sure where to go from there.

"Look deep within yourselves rangers." A voice whispered through the air.

The two girls looked at each other curiously. Kim knew that voice, she trusted that voice. She could feel something from within. The feeling was strange, and Kim reached out and grabbed Carri's hands.

The yellow ranger looked suspiciously at her friend. "What's going on?"

"Don't you feel it?" Kim asked as she looked at her. Something was going on. It was almost as though an old friend was pulling the strings. The odd feeling got stronger inside of her, and suddenly it surrounded them and they were teleporting off.

Kim gasped when she saw their new surroundings. She could not believe that her friend knew they were in danger, that she teleported them. It was a welcome surprise.

"It's beautiful." Carri commented, pulling Kim away from her thoughts.

"It's Phaedos." Kim replied simply. It had been a few years since she had been there but she still remembered it fondly.

"Where?" Carri questioned as she looked out over the ledge.

"Phaedos." The voice from the island spoke.

The girls turned to see a female warrior standing on the other side of a fire. The woman smiled at them. "Welcome back Kimberly." She said with a smile before turning toward the yellow ranger. "I am Dulcea, keeper of the Ninjetti and guardian of the Great Power."

"Why were we brought here?" Carri questioned as she glanced at Dulcea.

Dulcea nodded, expecting the question. "With the power of the Ninjetti you will be able to sneak into the cave to rescue your friends." Zordon had contacted her as soon as he found out what was going on. He was reluctant to give them their Ninjetti powers back, but he knew it was the only way.

It was not that Zordon did not like the Ninjetti powers; it was that he thought they were too young to handle them for a long period of time. The Ninjetti were bonded to their animal spirits, which gave them a deep connection to the Great Power and to the spirit world. Zordon was always worried about his young team harnessing those kinds of powers. Zordon could have sent them to Ninjor, where they would have received Ninja powers, a watered down version of the Ninjetti that Ninjor would have linked to the coins and not the rangers.

It was the need to find the Great Power that sent them to Phaedos, where Dulcea granted them the power of the Ninjetti. Unknown to the rangers, it was Zordon who took their Ninjetti powers away once they received their Zeo powers. It was the recent quest that the Aquitarian rangers sent them on that convinced Zordon that his rangers should, one day, be allowed to have their Ninjetti powers back. He did not think that the day would come this soon, but they would not be able to save the others without them.

Kim made a face. "I thought those powers were destroyed."

"Your ranger powers were destroyed." Dulcea replied. That was not entirely true either, but it was in the rangers' best interest to continue with Zeo powers. "Your Ninjetti powers can never be destroyed. You were simply disconnected from your animal spirit."

"Zordon said that if we enter with powers we're screwed." Carri quickly pointed out.

"The Ninjetti powers aren't morphing powers." Dulcea responded. "They come from deep inside of you, from a connection to your animal spirit."

Kim frowned as a thought occurred to her. "I'm not a ranger anymore."

"That is no matter." Dulcea replied as she thought of the best way to answer the question. "You have been on a great quest, one that will allow you to forever harness the power of the Ninjetti." It wasn't really the quest that was going to grant them permanent powers. It was the fact that Zordon agreed that those who had been on the quest had proven themselves as rangers and they earned the ability to prove themselves with permanent Ninjetti powers. He was even going to let his current pink ranger, who had not been on the quest, hold powers. However, they both agreed that fate was taking her on a different path, and since she had not proven herself, once she retired he would silently disrupt her connection to her animal spirit and strip her of her Ninjetti powers.

"You mean permanent Ninjetti powers?" Kim asked excitedly. Sure, they were not morphing powers, but they would still put her back in the game.

"Yes. For you two and your four friends." Dulcea said, pausing briefly. "The pink Zeo ranger will be able to hold Ninjetti powers, although she will lose them once she is no longer a Zeo ranger."

Carri glanced over at Kim and grinned. "So where do we sign up?"

"You must close your eyes and look deep within yourselves." Dulcea said. She watched as they did what they were told. She reached into her pouch and pulled a handful of dust out, then blew it across the burning fire and watched as it surrounded the girls. "You may open your eyes now."

Carri and Kim quickly opened their eyes and started examining their new outfits. Kim pulled back the hood and mouth covering of her Ninjetti suit and Carri followed. Kim smiled as she looked at herself. She was once again in pink, with a crane on her chest centered in the middle of a gold coin. Next to her, Carri stood in yellow.

"Yes!" Kim exclaimed with more enthusiasm than she had felt in a long time.

Dulcea crossed the fire and walked toward them. She was glad to be able to give them their Ninjetti powers back, she knew that they had great destinies ahead and that their Ninjetti powers would weigh heavily in their futures. Especially for Kim who would be return to Phaedos one day. She wanted her to have the opportunity to strengthen her bond with the crane before then.

She walked up to the pink Ninjetti and smiled. "You have been reunited with the crane." She said, watching as Kim smiled back before turning toward Carri. "Carri, you are swift and strong, just like your animal spirit the panther." She said before stepping back and standing in between the two women. "You have now been connected to your animal spirits and have been blessed by them. This makes you true Ninjetti's. Go now, and save Earth before it is too late."

"Let's do this." Kim said with a grin.

"Callisto is going to be sorry she tried to screw with with the Ninjetti's." Carri replied. She was ready to really hand it to the goddess now. They had powers, Callisto was going to regret the day she messed with them.

* * *

Much like the last time they teleported, the girls found themselves teleporting near the entrance to Callisto's cave. Kim pointed toward the Tengas at the entrance. Carri nodded and they moved into an attack position.

"Hey you!" Kim called out as both girls jumped out of hiding. The birds started squawking like crazy and Kim grinned. "That's right, I'm back. And I'm going to make your life miserable."

The two Ninjetti started in on the Tengas. While their fight started on the outside, on the inside of the cave Callisto heard them approaching. "It's the last two power rangers." She said with a smile as she turned to face her caged victims, her back to the entrance. "It sure took them long enough."

"Alright Callisto you've had your fun." Carri said as she and Kim ran in. "Now if you let them go, maybe we'll go easy on you."

"A powerless power ranger?" Callisto questioned a hint of amusement in her voice as she turned to look at them.

"Make that two Ninjetti." Kim corrected with a grin. It felt amazing to be back in the game, beating up on the Tengas.

"Ninjetti?" Tommy repeated in a whisper as he and the other former Ninjetti jumped up to get a closer look.

Callisto was fuming that rangers with powers were allowed to enter. "Get them!" she hissed, pointing her sword toward them. The Tengas quickly followed her command.

"Can you hold them down?" Carri asked as the Tengas approached. "I want my shot at Callisto."

"Not a problem." Kim said as she shifted into position. She was happy to oblige.

Carri leaped high into the air and flipped over both the Tengas and Callisto. As she did, she let out a battle cry, one only heard before by Callisto. The yellow Ninjetti was somewhat shocked as she hit the floor. She tried not to let it show as she turned toward Callisto.

The goddess smirked and grabbed her sword. "Now you even sound like her."

The two quickly attacked each other. Callisto swung her sword wildly, and Carri ducked and turned, moving to kick it out of her hand. The sword went sailing across the ground. Callisto got an evil look in her eye as she lifted her hand to fire a beam at Carri. The yellow Ninjetti reacted quickly, kicking her arm up and sending the beam straight up. Unfortunately, the beam of energy smashed into the ceiling and damaged it, causing the cave to become unstable. The ceiling above them started to collapse.

Carri glanced at the rangers as she dodged a shot. "I've got to get them out of here." She said to herself as the beam hit the wall and sped up the collapse.

An idea occurred to her, and using her Ninjetti powers, one second she was standing in front of the goddess and the next she was in front of the door to the cage. Callisto turned, furious at Carri, and fired without thinking. She hit the cage and disabled all of her security mechanisms, causing the cage door to open.

Carri took off, directing Callisto's attention elsewhere as Kim ran to the rangers. "Come on guys, this way." She said as she led them toward the exit.

The others cleared out as the cave continued to collapse. "Looks like it's just you and me." Callisto said once they were alone.

"Isn't that the way it's supposed to be?" Carri asked. Although the fight would not last long, she had seconds to figure a way out before she was going to be crushed.

"Cave's about to collapse." Callisto pointed out as she looked around. "Too bad I can escape and you can't."

"You can't leave if I don't let you." Carri replied with a growl. Wasting no time, she ran to the goddess, pulling her to the ground as the cave collapsed around both of them.

* * *

"No!" Rocky yelled in disbelief as the remaining boulders fell and the cave settled. "We have to get in there." He said as he frantically searched for an entry point.

"That's impossible." Zack said softly. He knew what this meant, what the team lost, what Rocky lost. "I'm sorry."

"But" Rocky started to protest. This can't be how it ends; he won't let it to happen this way.

"It's over." Billy spoke softly. Carri was a friend and he did not want to believe it either but there was nothing he could do for her.

The group of past and present rangers walked as close to the collapsed cave as they could get. There were no words to express the sorrow they felt. They were all having a hard time coping with what had just happened.

"I know she's blonde and she's built, but don't worry she'll be back."

The rangers spun around and saw the yellow Ninjetti standing there in one piece, pulling back her hood and mouth covering. "Carri!" Rocky exclaimed as he ran over to her and put his arms around her, the others following behind him. "We thought you were…" his voice trailed off as he let her go.

"Please." Carri said as she rolled her eyes. In all honesty she almost was. She gambled there at the end. She knew Callisto would not let herself get buried. When the goddess teleported her out, she inadvertently teleported Carri with her. With a little bit of Ninjetti skill, Carri jumped off mid ride and headed back toward the cave. "Do you think I'd just stand there and let the roof fall in on me?"

"Well… I wouldn't have been surprised." Tommy replied. He was glad to see his teammate alive, and he was not going to miss the opportunity to tease her a bit.

Carri grunted and reached over to smack the red ranger. "I'm a Ninjetti. I'm way better than that."

"Speaking of the Ninjetti," Kim said as all eyes turned toward her, "Dulcea has something for you guys."

"All of us?" Tommy questioned as he gestured toward the rangers.

"The current Zeo's and Adam." Kim replied.

"What about us?" Aisha questioned as she gestured toward the remaining group.

Kat glanced at her old friend. "I think we can get you back now." She said as she reached over and unhooked her communicator from her wrist. "See if this helps."

Aisha took the communicator and clasped it onto her left wrist. It had been a long time since she had worn one of those. It was a weird feeling, but at the same time, it was natural. She smiled as she linked arms with Billy and Tanya. She watched Rocky hand his communicator over to Zack, who grabbed onto Trini. The five of them hit the buttons and teleported off.

"It worked." Carri said, somewhat surprised. She had not been completely sure it was going to. She watched Kat latch on to Tommy and Adam walk over and grab Jason's arm. She linked one arm in Rocky's before walking over and linking the other with Kim. "Let's get back." She said as the remaining rangers' teleported themselves to Phaedos.

* * *

The group of seven teenagers arrived on Phaedos and found themselves face to face with Dulcea. "Welcome rangers." She greeted. "I see you have defeated Callisto for the time being." The girls nodded their heads yes and Dulcea continued. "Those of you who have held Ninjetti powers, form a circle."

She waited until the boys did as they were told. After she got them to close their eyes, she blew dust on them. Once they opened their eyes back up, the boys found themselves in the same Ninjetti outfits with the same colors as before.

Rocky looked down at himself. "So we're two different colors at the same time now." He commented.

"All I need is a little green." Tommy joked.

Dulcea watched as the red Ninjetti laughed while the black Ninjetti stood beside him and frowned. "Is something wrong Adam?"

"I'm still a frog." He replied, making a face. Dulcea simply smiled at him in response, and Adam could not help but smile back. The frog would always be a part of him.

Dulcea turned to the two remaining rangers. "You must close your eyes and look deep within yourselves." She said. As their eyes closed, she blew more dust on them. Seconds later, they were in their Ninjetti outfits, Jason in green and Kat in a light shade of purple. As they opened their eyes, Dulcea walked over to Jason. "Jason, your animal spirit is the cougar, and like it you are cunning and a wise leader."

Jason smiled as Dulcea walked over to Kat. "Katherine, you are graceful, just like your animal spirit the swan." She watch Kat smile, happy that both teens were satisfied with their animal guides.

"What was up with that battle cry?" Carri asked, pulling Dulcea's attention elsewhere. "I've never heard it before in my life. I even had new fighting techniques."

Dulcea smiled. "You are connected to your animal spirits, and through that the spirit world. This can connect you to those ancestors who shared the same animal guide. If the connection is strong enough, you may be able to channel a part of them."

"Xena?" Carri questioned. She made the most sense, especially since Callisto had recognized her. She watched Dulcea nod in response and she smiled.

"Rangers let your animal spirits guide you. The Ninjetti powers are there for you, and will lead you through tough times. Be brave, and may the ancient power of the Ninjetti protect you always." With that, Dulcea transformed into an owl and flew off.

Tommy watched as Dulcea disappeared from their view. "Let's head back to the Power Chamber." He suggested. Much like they had before, the rangers got together and teleported off.

* * *

The seven Ninjetti appeared in the Power Chamber where the rest of their friends were waiting. "Rangers, welcome back." Zordon greeted them.

"Aye ai ai!" Alpha exclaimed excitedly. "You have your Ninjetti powers back."

"The Ninjetti's are back in business." Tommy said with a grin.

Aisha unhooked her borrowed communicator and handed it back, Zack following suit. Once they returned them, Zack glanced around at the others and smiled. "It was good to see you guys, but we need to get back."

"Wait a second." Carri said as she went and stood in front of the original black and yellow rangers. "There's something about you guys." She said as she thought a moment. Then it hit her. They were a lot older, but the first names fit. It had to be them. "Zack Taylor and Trini Kwan?"

Trini and Zack glanced at each other. "How did you know?" Trini asked.

Jason stepped forward next to Carri. "Guys this is Carri Hillard. I would introduce you, but apparently she knows you already."

"Oh!" Trini exclaimed, her eyes lighting up with recognition. "It has been a long time."

"I know." Carri replied with a smile as she hugged both of them. "How have you guys been?"

Zack let out a laugh. "Well you know about the ranger stuff. The rest of it I don't think we have enough time to fill you in on."

Carri gave him a nod. "Some other time."

"Definitely." Zack replied with a grin. "We need to come back, visit, and catch up some."

"Wait a second." Tommy said as he pushed into the small group that was forming. "How do you guys know each other?" As far as he knew, Carri didn't know any rangers other than Kat before last year.

"We went to school together for four years." Carri said with a smile.

"The teachers called us the Three Musketeers. We did everything together." Trini chimed in. It was a shame that they did not keep up. However, they were young, when they did not see each other daily they went their separate ways.

"Those were the times." Zack said with a grin. "It was kindergarten through third grade."

"What happened after third grade?" Tanya asked, curious as to how the story changed from there.

"They redrew the school assignment lines that summer. I got sent to a different elementary school and middle school. But I would have reunited with Zack and Trini in high school if we hadn't moved." Carri replied, a hint of sadness in her voice. Her first three years in high school would have been much more enjoyable if she had started at Angel Grove High and hung out with Zack and Trini again.

"That was the summer Billy and I got transferred to Angel Grove Elementary with Zack and Trini." Kim chimed into the story.

Jason nodded. "And we moved here that summer and I ended up at Angel Grove too." That was the year he made the four friends he would go on to do save the world with.

"I wonder what would have happened if they hadn't redrawn the lines." Trini said thoughtfully.

"Or if I hadn't moved to New York." Carri chimed in. Thinking about all the ways things could have gone was enough to give her a headache.

"Let's not think about that stuff right now." Zack said with a frown. "Besides, we've got to get back." Trini nodded in agreement and the two said their goodbyes and were teleported out.

"I guess we need to get going too." Adam said.

"Yeah." Tanya agreed with a sigh. "So much for peaceful days off." With that, they said their goodbyes and were off as well.

"My mom is probably worried sick about me." Aisha said with a frown as she started to work on excuses. "I need to get back."

Rocky stepped up and grabbed Carri's arm. "Hey Sha, before you go, I want to introduce you to Carri, my girlfriend. Carri, Aisha and I go way back, the two of us and Adam practically grew up together."

Aisha smiled and stepped toward Carri, extending her hand. "It's nice to meet you." She said. She felt bad being out of the loop. Before she would have known everything about Rocky's potential love interest before he asked her out. Being in Africa, she did not know what went on with either of her best friends.

"You too." Carri replied as she took her hand and shook it.

"Alright Alpha, let's get me out of here." Aisha said as she took a step back. "I'll see you guys later." She gave the others a wave as she teleported off in a flash of white light.

"I need to return to Aquitar." Billy said. He quickly said goodbye to everyone and went to leave as well.

"So then I guess it's our turn." Carri said as she glanced over at Kim. "I wonder how long we'll be stranded out there." She said with a sigh.

"I have taken the liberty of notifying the authorities." Zordon informed the two Ninjetti. Normally he would not be able to step in, but this was a direct result of Callisto's attack on Earth. It was his duty to rectify the situation. "You should be rescued soon."

"Rescued?" Rocky questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Carri leaned in and gave him a quick kiss. "I'll fill you in later." She said with a smile.

"See you guys." Kim said as Carri headed over toward her and grabbed onto her arm before teleporting both of them away.

"I guess everything's back to normal." Tommy said as they teleported out.

"Normal is not such a bad thing." Kat replied with a grin. Especially if normal meant that Tommy's ex-girlfriend who was now somewhat a member of the team again was no longer hanging out here.

"Let's get out of here." Jason suggested. With that, the remaining rangers teleported down to Angel Grove.

* * *

Out in another galaxy, the Dark Fortress loomed high above a deserted planet. The woman in charge turned toward one of the creatures that worked for her, absolutely furious. "Is it too much to ask that you capture that red ranger?"

"But my queen" Ecliptor started.

"No buts." Astronema interrupted, not in the mood to hear more excuses. "I want the red ranger. Go get him while he's still on the surface." She said. She watched as he took off before sitting down in her chair. As she sat, a figure materialized in front of her. "Back so soon?"

Callisto frowned. "Things didn't go quite as expected." She thought she could at least bury the yellow ranger at the end, but she was not going to bury herself along with her. She would not die, but she was going to have a hell of a time getting out.

"Oh?" Astronema questioned, raising an eyebrow. "But you had the perfect plan."

"I did." Callisto said sharply. "It went well until the last two rangers returned with Ninjetti powers."

"Ninjetti?" Astronema repeated, her temper rising. "How did they get Ninjetti powers?"

"How do you think?" Callisto questioned. There was only one way a ranger could get full-fledged Ninjetti powers, and that was through the keeper of the Ninjetti on Phaedos.

Astronema slammed her fist down on her armrest. "Darkonda assured me that was no longer a factor. Darkonda!"

Darkonda walked into the room and slowly made his way toward Astronema. "Yes?"

"I thought you said the Ninjetti powers and their keeper were out of commission." She said angrily. She told him to kill Dulcea, and to destroy everything she touched so that no one could ever figure out how to gain access to those powers again.

"I said I sent the Quantrons to Phaedos to deal with the problem. However, Dulcea defeated them and I didn't find it important enough to send them back." Darkonda corrected her.

"What do you mean, not important enough?" she asked, resisting the urge to kill him where he stood. "When I send you to do something, you do it."

Ecliptor chose that moment to come running back into the room. "Astronema"

"You had better be returning with the red ranger's lifeless body." She cut him off once more. She could not stand to hear about any more failures now.

Ecliptor knelt down in front of her. "The red ranger escaped on his galaxy glider before we could get to him. We believe that he has made it to his ship and has left the planet's orbit."

Astronema looked down at him. "Well if you treasure your head, you will find him."

Ecliptor stood and bowed. "I will bring him to you." He assured her before taking off.

"Seems to me like you have a problem with the red ranger." Callisto said with a frown. "A surprise, seeing as how we did such a good job with the silver one."

"Yes, well, if I had some decent help around here…" her voice trailed off as she shot a look in the direction of a group of Quantrons.

"Want me to burn him for you?" Callisto asked. She was angry she would love the opportunity to burn something.

Astronema glanced at her. "If it's that easy, why don't you just burn those Zeo rangers of yours?"

"Because I want to torture them." Callisto said, getting excited by the thought of what she would do to them one day. "I will cause them pain beyond their worst nightmares."

Astronema chuckled as she turned toward Callisto. "Sounds like fun." She commented as she thought about it. "One day I will bring you those rangers gift wrapped so I can watch as you torture them."

Callisto let out an evil laugh. "We make quite the team." She said with a smile. "Those rangers don't stand a chance. They may have won this time but I will be back. And believe me when I say next time will be more fun than ever." She laughed once more, her mind racing with all the things she could do to finally rid the world of the Zeo rangers.


	15. Bad Alliances

**Disclaimer:** The characters in the known Power Rangers universe belong to Saban. The characters from the Buffyverse belong to Joss Whedon. Everyone else belongs to me.

Ranger Scrolls  
"Bad Alliances"

The blond man in the black leather coat glanced at the creature standing in front of him. "So what, you want to combine forces and take care of both of our problems?"

Lord Zedd nodded in response. "My Tengas will destroy your slayer and your vampires should have no trouble taking out the rangers." It was an odd tactic, but he was willing to try anything to get rid of those power brats.

Spike thought for a moment before turning toward the woman standing next to him. "What do you think Dru?"

Drusilla looked wide-eyed at her boyfriend and smiled. She started to hum a little bit as she swayed over toward Zedd. When she reached him, she grew silent. "Quite the interesting demon, he's red." She commented before turning back toward her boyfriend. "But he says he can destroy the slayer."

Spike smiled and nodded. "That's right baby. And once she's gone we can get you back to your old self."

"I want the slayer gone." Drusilla said, her light and airy voice turning harsh. "Let's do it."

"That's my girl." Spike said proudly as he held out his hand to her. She walked over and took it, a huge grin on her face. It was always nice to see a glimmer of her former self. "You heard her. We are in. What do you need from us, and what do we get in return?"

"We will leave some of our Tengas for you, and take vampires back with us. We'll send them somewhere they'll be safe during the day." Zedd assured him. They were sending them to one of Rita's dark dimensions. It was not the world's greatest accommodations, but they would be out of the sunlight and he could be assured they would not try to do anything stupid.

"We'll even put Rito and Goldar on call for you." Rita chimed in. That should be just enough help to get rid of one annoying slayer.

"Oh goodie." Rito said excitedly. "I'm gonna get a chance to bag a slayer. Dad would be so proud."

Spike and Zedd shook on the deal, finalizing it. They started separating their forces, but that was when the figure who had been spying on them slipped away. He had seen enough, he knew he needed to move quickly to keep something bad from happening.

* * *

"How did it go?" Rupert Giles questioned, looking up from his text as a young girl entered the library.

The slayer shrugged. It was as normal a night as any. "I saw vampires. I slayed vampires. Now the world is down a few vampires." Buffy replied.

"Good, that's good." He replied as he glanced back down at the ancient book he was reading.

Before he could get back into his reading, a figure came bursting through the library's double doors and Buffy immediately went to greet him. "Angel." She said simply. "Is something wrong?"

"We've got problems." Angel said as he glanced between her and her watcher. "Big ones."

"I'm sure it's nothing I can't handle." Buffy said with a shrug. Part of her wished that he would come rushing in like that just to see her. That was what normal boyfriends did. Then again, they were anything but normal.

"What is it Angel?" Giles questioned, ignoring his slayer's easygoing attitude.

"Demons. New ones. Forming an alliance with Spike." Angel quickly explained, ignoring Buffy.

A look of concern crossed Giles's face. "What kind of demons?"

"One's I've never seen before." Angel replied. That in itself was a concern. He had been around a long time; there were not many demons he didn't at least know of. "One was red, the other was wearing cones. There were a bunch of black birds and two others. One looked like a skeleton, the other a winged monkey."

"I've never heard of anything like what you've described." Giles said, as he stood straight up, worried by Angel's discovery.

"Does this mean research mode?" Willow piped up. The demon and vampire slaying part of this she was not good at. Research mode was where she shined.

"Yes, yes it does." Giles said, turning and immediately heading for his books. Willow stood and quickly went to join him.

Once the two of them were gone, Angel went to talk to Buffy. "This is going to be dangerous."

"I'm sensing that." Buffy replied as she glanced up at him. She was still hung up on the description of the demons. Part of it was really familiar to her she just couldn't quite place it.

"We've never seen anything like this before." He worried about her, he couldn't help it. She was a slayer, slayers are known for their short life span. She had proven her worth, defeating the Master, but still that did not mean he liked her running off into battle.

Buffy made a face as the piece she was missing fell into place. "I think we know someone who has."

"Who?" Angel questioned, looking down at her

Buffy slipped around him. "I'm going to make a phone call." She said as she headed for the door. "I'll be back."

"What does she think she's doing?" Giles asked as he stood up and watched his slayer leave. "This is a serious matter."

"She knows something." Angel said as he leaned against the counter. He wished she would tell him the details. He frowned as he continued. "Or at least she knows someone who does."

"Oh. That would be helpful." Giles said as he picked a book off the shelf. "In the meantime, we need to continue with the research."

Angel nodded. "You keep researching, I'm going to snoop around, see if I can find out anything." With that, Angel left, leaving Willow and Giles alone in a quiet library.

* * *

It was late that night when Rocky found himself walking his girlfriend to her dorm room door. "I'll talk to you after class tomorrow." He said, leaning in to give her a kiss.

Carri smiled at him as she returned the kiss. She wished she could invite him in but she had a roommate who was there constantly. It made keeping up with the physical side of their relationship difficult. She sighed. "Later." She said as content as she was going to be with letting him go.

He squeezed her hand goodbye and she watched him leave. Once he was gone, she fished her key out of her pocket and tried to open the door as quietly as possible so she wouldn't wake her roommate. It was midnight; there was no doubt in her mind that the other woman was sleeping.

She slipped in and closed the door quietly, locking it behind herself. As she did, the phone rang. Moving quickly, she jumped across the floor, almost falling over her own things in the process. It paid off though as she answered the phone on the second ring.

"Hello?" she questioned with a whisper. Nobody called her this late through anything but her communicator.

"Carri?" the voice on the other end asked.

"Yeah." She replied. "Who's this?"

"Buffy." The slayer informed her.

"Hey." She greeted, a little more sociably this time. "Kind of late for a phone call isn't it?"

"This isn't a social call." Buffy replied, making a mental note to call Carri more for social purposes. They kept up for a while after they met, but then she got busy and they have not talked much over the last few months.

"I figured." Carri said with a sigh. Buffy would not call this late at night, unless it was an emergency. "So what's up?"

"Spike, the new big bad here, has apparently been making deals." Buffy quickly explained. "Angel says he saw him with a red demon and a woman wearing cones." She hoped that was enough detail for Carri to get it. She was pretty sure this was up her ally. It was the skeleton and the monkey that gave it away. Xander had mentioned a friend seeing them in Angel Grove before. At the time, they thought it was a joke, but now she was fairly certain they were real.

"A red demon and a." Carri stopped short as she realized what the reference was most likely to. "Crap." She said with a sigh.

"I take it you know these guys?" Buffy questioned.

"If they are who I think they are." Carri replied. That was all they needed, the vampires teaming up with Zedd and Rita.

"Is there any way you can ditch class and come down here tonight? You can stay with me; we'll start researching in the morning." Buffy suggested. She could not make her friend come down, but she hoped she would see the importance of what was going on and drive out there.

"I'm free tomorrow. My classes are cancelled; the professors are at a conference." Carri quickly explained.

"Great." Buffy said, somewhat relieved. "So you'll be here in an hour or two?"

"I'll teleport." Carri replied. "I have to check with Zordon but this is ranger related." This was a potential ranger emergency; she did not have time to drive. She was positive he would let her use the teleportation system to go to Sunnydale.

"Alright." Buffy replied. "Meet me in the cemetery. I'm going to head over there and patrol one last time."

"I'll be there soon." Carri assured her as she hung up the phone.

Buffy hung up on her end then snuck out of Principal Snyder's office. It felt good to break in and use his phone. As if some justice is being served, charging long distance phone calls to him. She smiled to herself as she burst back through the double doors of the library.

"Did you find anything out?" Giles asked as he glanced up at her.

"I've found someone who can help." Buffy replied with a smile. Usually she was not the one who found the answers. It was somewhat satisfying. "Operation bust the bad guys begins tomorrow morning."

"Who is this person?" Willow questioned.

"An old friend." Buffy replied with a shrug. She did not know how much she could say. She promised never to spill Carri's secret, not even to her watcher. "I'm going to patrol one last time, see if I can find out anything."

"Be careful." Giles called out to her. Although he doubted she heard it. She was already out the door and on her way to the cemetery.

* * *

Buffy sighed as she walked through the entrance of the cemetery. "More vampires to slay, demons to kill… what else is new." She said to herself.

She walked around and nothing immediately caught her attention. Deciding to keep an eye out for a bit, she sat down on a nearby tombstone. A few minutes later, the ground in the grave next to her started to shift. Seconds later, a vampire pulled himself up from his coffin.

"And here I thought this was going to be a waste." She said as she stood stake in hand, ready for action.

The new vampire took one look at her. He was not sure who she was, or what he was, but he knew he was hungry and something about her smelled really good. Acting on instinct, he attacked. He was strong, but she was stronger, and after a few minutes of fighting, she shoved a wooden stake through his heart. He turned to dust, and as the dust formed in front of her, a yellow streak flew in where he once stood.

"Way to show him whose boss." Carri said as she watched the remainder of his ashes fall to the ground.

"I try." Buffy replied with a shrug. "Come on, let's get to my house." She said, as she led her friend off.

The two girls headed out of the cemetery and Buffy showed her the shortcut through to her neighborhood. Ten minutes later, they were standing in front of the Summers' residence. Buffy opened the door, hoping her mom would be sound asleep by now.

"Buffy Summers." A voice that carried both anger and worry spoke. "Where have you been?" Joyce questioned as she appeared out of the living room and glared at her daughter and the girl who was behind her.

"I was picking Carri up. Her bus just got in." Buffy lied through her teeth. "I told you she was coming to stay with us for a while."

"You did?" Joyce questioned, raising an eyebrow and looking from one girl to the next.

"Yeah mom, I told you two weeks ago that she was coming to visit and I had to pick her up tonight." Buffy quickly continued her explanation. "This is the girl I met last Christmas in Angel Grove."

Joyce studied the girl in front of her for a minute. She did remember meeting her once or twice. "Carri Hillard right?" she questioned, watching as the girl shook her head. "Glad to have you in Sunnydale." She said. She could not believe she forgot about their company. Knowing Buffy, she mentioned it in passing, and with everything going on at the gallery lately she probably forgot.

"Thanks." Carri replied, smiling at her.

"Well mom, we're beat." Buffy said as she flashed her what she hoped was a tired smile. "I'm going to help her get settled, and then we are going to bed."

"Alright." Joyce replied. "I'll see you in the morning." She said before she headed off into the kitchen.

The two girls headed upstairs. Buffy paused in front of one of the rooms. "This is the guest room." She said she pointed toward it. "We probably should get some sleep. I have a bad feeling we won't get much over the next few nights."

Carri nodded in agreement, as she took her duffle bag into the guest room. Buffy said goodnight before heading into her room, then the two girls called it a night.

* * *

"Thanks for the ride mom." Buffy said as she and Carri got out of the car.

Carri watched the jeep depart before speaking. "I still can't believe she bought your story."

"Which one?" Buffy asked, although she was fairly certain what she meant.

"The one about me wanting to come with you to high school to relive the glory days." Carri replied with a roll of her eyes. The first three years of high school were pure hell, although she had a feeling this trip back would be more like senior year. "For the record, the glory days ended just last year."

"That story." Buffy replied with a smile as they headed up the stairs and toward the building. "I hate lying to my mom. But it's not like I can tell the truth." She said as they walked into the school's front door.

She turned and headed for the library when a figure popped out in front of her. "Hold it right there Miss Summers." Principal Snyder said, stopping her as he glared at the girl with her. "Who's your little friend who doesn't go here, therefore is trespassing on school property?"

"Carri Hillard." She said with a smile as she extended her hand. Like it or not, she was her father's daughter. She could pull off an act as well as Buffy could. "Don't tell me you haven't heard about me."

"Can't say that I have." Snyder replied, ignoring her outstretched hand.

She frowned and let the hand drop. It was obvious Buffy's principal was an annoying little twit. "My sociology professor at USC should have sent you something." Carri lied. She paused, waiting for him to indicate that he was clueless. "Your secretary said you signed off on it."

"What exactly was I supposed to have signed off on?" Snyder questioned as he looked from one girl to the other.

"Permission for me to come observe at Sunnydale High." Carri quickly came up with something. "It's for a project. You had to observe somewhere you did not attend. Since Buffy and I know each other, I thought it would be fun to come here."

It was quite possible she was telling the truth. He couldn't remember every little thing he signed off on. He was certain he did not know she was Buffy's friend; he never would have signed off on it if that were the case. He thought for a minute before giving the two girls one hard look, then walked off.

"Do you even take sociology?" Buffy asked as she started walking again in the direction of the library.

"Nope." Carri replied, grinning saucily. "But what he doesn't know won't hurt him."

The two girls giggled as they headed off for the library, bursting through the doors a few minutes later. Giles looked up and glanced at the person he did not know. "I'm going to assume this is the friend you spoke of?"

"Yes. This is Carri." She said as she gestured to the yellow ranger. Carri gave the room a half wave as Buffy went to introduce everyone else. "And this is Willow, Xander, Cordelia and Giles."

"Carri. Hello. Nice to meet you." Xander said, as he looked her over. He did not know Buffy's friend was going to be hot. "Take a seat. Take my seat." He finished as he stood.

"Thanks." Carri said, ignoring the fact that Xander was checking her out.

"So you're a demon expert?" Cordelia asked as she glanced at the other girl. She did not know what she was doing here. She kept falling into these things whether she wanted to or not.

"Expert?" Carri questioned with a snort. That wasn't the word she would use. "I think I can help you with your problem though, I just have to confirm what Angel saw."

"You're welcome to use any of our books." Giles said as he gestured to the volumes of ancient texts on the table.

"Do you have anything that deals with things not of this world?" Carri questioned as she glanced at the books. Most of them had symbols on the cover that meant nothing to her.

"One." Giles replied with a frown. He had no idea who this girl was but she was losing credibility in his eyes quickly. "However there isn't any point in looking through it, it's all myths."

"Maybe." Carri replied with a shrug. "I would like to see it though."

Giles sighed and went to grab the book off the shelf. It was part of the watchers council's ancient collection. He did not know how he got it, he found it with his books when he unpacked and slipped it on the shelf and forgot about it. "Here." He said as he handed it to her.

Carri opened the leather bound book and looked inside. The words were in a language she did not know. However, there were pictures. She could work with pictures.

Willow looked hesitantly between Buffy and Carri. "Are you sure that book is good? I mean, Giles always says never to fool with it, that most of that was not real. It's not really a research book."

The yellow ranger looked up at the other girl briefly before looking back down and flipping the page. As she did, she found a hand drawn image of Gasket and Archerina. "I think I'll find what I'm looking for." She finally spoke.

"What kind of help did you find for us, exactly?" Giles questioned as he took his glasses off and put a hand to his head.

"Give her time. She'll find it." Buffy assured him. At least she hoped she did. Or else they would both look pretty stupid.

"Got it." Carri said as Lord Zedd's ugly image appeared on a page.

Xander peered over her shoulder and glanced at him. "He doesn't look that bad."

"The artist didn't do him justice." Carri said with a shrug. He had left out some of the details, but it was still Zedd. She put her thumb on the page and continued flipping until she found the witch she was looking for. "This is Rita Repulsa." She said as she flipped back to the previous page. "Wife of Lord Zedd, the two are trying to take over the planet as we speak."

"Why would these creatures team up with Spike?" Giles asked as he walked over and glanced at the pictures in the book. He wished he could translate it, but this was a language they knew nothing about. "And how can we be certain this is correct? The book isn't exactly known for its accuracy."

"I'll double check with Angel." She replied. She was fairly confident that it was Zedd and Rita he had seen last night, but to satisfy Giles she'd go talk to him.

"Let's go." Buffy said as she stood.

"Buffy, you have class now." Willow quickly pointed out. "Xander and I have study hall, we'll go with her."

"But guys"

"Willow's right." Giles interrupted before the slayer could protest. She knew this was simple; she most likely just wanted to skip class. "This is an easy task. Not one you should skip class for."

"Fine." Buffy said with a pout. "But watch out for Snyder."

"We won't get caught." Carri promised her. A year of sneaking around and teleporting on and off campus taught Carri how to get out of high school without getting caught.

"Just in case, Willow, why don't you see if you can get Miss Calendar to write you a pass off campus. I would do it, but Snyder probably wouldn't acknowledge it." Giles suggested. Snyder hated him, and the feeling was mutual.

Willow nodded her head as the bell rang. Cordelia and Buffy said their goodbyes and headed off to class. A few minutes later, the others were on their way as well.

* * *

It was not hard to get off of campus. Willow got the necessary passes, but they managed to slip out behind the gym unnoticed. Carri spent most of the walk to Angel's place dodging Willow and Xander's questions. She realized that her knowing what she did was odd. If they knew who she really was it would make sense, but she was not about to tell them that secret. It was better they thought she was weird.

Finally, they arrived at Angel's front door. The questions stopped as Carri went to knock. A few seconds later he answered, defenses up as he had transformed his face. Xander and Willow jumped back. Carri looked at him and cocked her head. "Kind of looks like me when someone wakes me up in the middle of the night." She said, somewhat amused.

"Sorry." Angel replied as his face went back to normal. "So your Buffy's expert?"

Carri nodded in reply. "And I've got some pictures for you." She said, holding the book up and flipping it to Zedd. "Does he look familiar?"

"That's him." Angel replied as he glanced at the image. Carri flipped the page and he glanced at the next picture. "And that's the woman he was with."

With a sigh, Carri shut the book. "That's what I thought." She said. She wanted to believe it was not true. Any hope she had of that was gone. She turned toward Willow and Xander. "Come on guys, we've got a lot of work to do."

"So I'll see you patrolling with Buffy tonight." Angel commented. He figured she would be. He put the pieces together; he knew this was what she fought.

"I'll be there." Carri replied as they walked off.

They emerged back onto the street, Willow and Xander exchanging curious glances. Xander shrugged and Willow turned toward Carri. "No offense, but it's dangerous to go patrolling, especially with these new demons out there."

"Yeah I love to help Buffy, but even in these situations I know better than to jump in and get myself killed." Xander chimed in. This was too weird. There was something going on here that they were not telling them about.

"Buffy will need me by her side as much as I'll need her by mine." Carri said simply, before increasing her pace to intentionally leave the other two behind. She did not want to deal with any more questions now.

Once Carri was out of earshot, Xander whispered to Willow. "Is she a slayer?"

"That's impossible." Willow whispered back. "Buffy has to die for there to be a new slayer."

"She was dead for a few seconds once." Xander reminded her. He did not know how the slayer thing worked. Maybe there was a time limit, as if she had to be dead for a day. Maybe it was instantaneous.

"It doesn't fit. She obviously doesn't have a watcher; she went straight for the book that slayers don't use." Willow glanced over toward Xander. She agreed, something was off here, she just did not know what.

"Well then who is she? Wonder Woman? Running around in some stupid costume to save the world?" Xander said with a laugh.

Willow smiled at her longtime friend. "Come on Xander, let's be serious. A costume wearing super heroine is kind of silly, don't you think?"

Xander shrugged as if to agree. "I don't know. You explain it better."

"I…" Willow let her voice trail off, knowing she could not come up with anything he wanted to hear.

They walked in silence the rest of the way as they headed toward the school. They approached the back fence, where Carri stood safely on the other side. "Did you see that?" Xander asked as he looked at her.

Willow nodded as she glanced over at Carri. "I don't think we can jump right here. We'll get in another way and meet you in the library."

With a nod, Carri took off. As she left, Xander and Willow went to find a place to jump over. "See there." Xander said as they walked the perimeter of the school. "She got over the fence. The fence that is built high enough that we can't get over it."

"Maybe she's an expert fence jumper." Willow said, knowing how silly that sounded when she said it.

Xander glanced at her. "Fine." He said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Believe what you want. But I'm going to get to the bottom of this."

Willow nodded in acknowledgment as they found a place to cross. Seconds later they were back on school property, entering the building just as the bell rang to end first period. They ended up walking into the library right behind Buffy.

"So what did you find out?" Buffy asked the moment she crossed the threshold.

"Angel confirmed it." Carri replied, making a face. "We've got a lot to do. I have to teach you about Rita and Zedd, and you need to give me everything you've got about Spike and his vampires."

Buffy nodded. "Meet me outside during lunch." She suggested. She wanted to start now, but Giles was right. She needed to attend class. She could not afford to skip if she did not have to; Snyder was on her enough as it was. "That should be enough time to figure things out. If not, I'll skip my afternoon classes."

"Sounds good." Carri replied. The minute bell rang and the three high school students took off, the group splitting up until lunch.

* * *

Lunchtime came around and Buffy found herself sitting in the grass with Willow and Xander. They were waiting for Carri to show up so that they could start the much-needed conversation about defeating each other's enemies.

Willow took a bite from her sandwich and looked up. As she did, she saw a group of giant brown birds materialize behind the slayer. "Buffy!" she exclaimed, pointing toward them.

"What?" Buffy questioned, spinning around just as the Tengas started to squawk. Immediately she jumped up and into fighting position. "Welcome to Sunnydale." She said as she punched one in the beak.

After she threw the first punch, they descended on her. She quickly realized they were going to be more of a handful than what she originally thought. She kicked one and spun around just in time to see another one hit her. The slayer fell back onto the grass, then jumped up quickly and moved to regroup.

Buffy was not the only one facing the Tengas, as Zedd and Rita's birds went to attack Xander and Willow. The two had no idea what to do, and quickly found themselves getting shoved to the ground. A group of Tengas descended on them as they hit the floor.

"Hey now," Carri said as she approached, kicking a Tenga in the beak and throwing it off of Willow, "play nice." She finished as she went to work on freeing them from the two other birds that attacked.

"Who are you?" Xander asked as he stood before reaching down to help Willow up.

The yellow ranger punched a Tenga that was heading their way. "My story shouldn't be your biggest concern right now." She said as the bird stumbled backwards. "You need to get everyone out of here."

Willow and Xander did not move. They did not want to go evacuate the civilians; they wanted to help, to figure out what was going on. When Carri realized they were not moving she shot them a look that could make rangers squirm. "That wasn't a suggestion. Get everyone, including yourselves, to safety."

They glanced at each other. They were hesitant to leave, but the look they were getting suggested it was in their best interest to go. Willow sighed and Xander pouted as they turned to evacuate the students on the lawn. As they took off, Carri made her way toward the slayer.

"How do you kill them?" Buffy asked as she approached. So far, she was not doing much but throwing them down.

"Don't worry about killing them." Carri said. She wasn't even sure how to kill them, she just knew that once they were beat bad enough, they took off on their own. "Just worry about beating them."

The two girls looked at the regrouping Tengas, and the fight began again. It was not long into the fight that Carri realized everyone was gone. "Are you ready for the real party to start?" she asked as she eyed down the birds. "Ninjetti, panther!"

The Yellow Panther Ninjetti attacked the Tengas with more energy than before. She was doing much better than Buffy, who was finding the Tengas to be a difficult opponent. She was not used to something she could not stake or stab to kill. She continued fighting hard though, until two Tengas grabbed her arms from behind, holding her in place.

A new player appeared at the fight and walked over to her. "So you must be the slayer." He said, as he looked her over. "Allow me to introduce myself. Rito Revolto, one of the most feared fighters in the galaxy."

Buffy could not help the snort that came out. He looked like a Halloween reject and he did not seem that frightening. "I can see that." She said sarcastically.

Rito waved his sword around in her face. "Don't mess with me." He warned her. "Now if we could all just cooperate." Rito stopped short when he heard a noise. It was not just any noise, it sounded like Zeo two, power kick. "Oh no." Rito said, turning just in time to see the boot hit him square on.

Buffy broke free of the Tengas, and the moment Rito stood she punched him. "You don't want to mess with me." She said as he staggered backwards. She moved forward and kicked him hard in the stomach for good measure.

Rito fell to the ground. Picking himself up he let out a little laugh. "As long as I don't have to tell Ed what happened." He muttered to himself. "We're getting out of here while I still have my pride." He said. And with that, Rito and the Tengas disappeared.

Carri powered down and glanced over toward Buffy. The slayer sighed and crossed her arms. "We've got work to do." She said, and the two girls turned and headed toward the building's entrance.

* * *

Spike watched as Rito and the Tengas teleported in empty handed. "Where's the slayer?" he asked, the agitation clear in his voice.

"Uh... at school I guess." Rito said with a shrug.

"At school?" Spike questioned as he walked up to get in Rito's face. If he wanted to continue with the failures, he would have never signed up to work with Zedd in the first place. "I could have sworn I told you to bring her to me."

Rito did not answer and Spike made a frustrated sound before continuing. "You're lucky you're not one of mine. You'd be a pile of dust on the floor right about now." He said, turning and taking a few steps away from Rito.

As Spike turned back toward him, he saw Drusilla approach. His girlfriend walked over to Rito and started to wave two fingers in his face. "Strange eyeballs." She commented as she stared at them. "I want to rip them out. And eat them."

"Hey!" Rito exclaimed, taking a step back. "I like my eyes right where they are, thank you."

"Now Dru, it's not going to do us any good to kill him." Spike said with a sigh. Despite the fact that he wanted her to back down, he had to admit that he liked seeing her excitement at being involved. It was rare that she got excited anymore. He could not wait to get her back to her normal self.

Drusilla put her fingers down and backed away, making sure to keep eye contact with Rito the entire time. "But Spike, it would be so much fun." She said, putting her arm around her boyfriend as she got up to him.

He looked down at Dru, who was giving him the pouty face. It was hard to say no to that face. "I know love. But believe it or not, he may prove to be useful." He said, pulling himself away from Drusilla and approaching Rito once more. "Now tell me, how come the slayer is happily running around Sunnydale and not here with us?"

"See there's a very good explanation for that and." Rito stopped when he saw Spike staring at him. He skipped forward in the story and got to the point. "The yellow ranger showed up and."

"The yellow ranger?" Spike interrupted, making a frustrated sound. One day into this deal and already things were going wrong. "I thought Zedd was keeping those rangers occupied while I take over Sunnydale."

"Well we can capture her." Drusilla suggested as she walked up behind Spike and put her arm around him once more. "And rip her eyeballs out." She finished, staring up at him with a hopeful look in her eye.

"Good idea love." Spike said, leaning down to kiss her forehead. He'd let her rip someone's eyeballs out before this was all said and done if she was dying to do it that much. "Come on, we need to change our plans for tonight."

With that, Spike put an arm around Drusilla and spun her in another direction before leading her off, leaving Rito relieved that he was still standing with all his parts intact.

* * *

Giles looked up as Buffy and Carri burst into the library. "What's going on?" he questioned. It was not like her to storm in this worked up, not in the middle of the day.

"I was attacked." Buffy said simply as she went and collapsed into a chair.

"In broad daylight?" Giles questioned as he looked at her curiously. "That's impossible."

"It wasn't vampires." Carri replied as she took a seat as well. It would be nice if her bad guys only attacked during the day. "It was Tengas. And Rito."

"Was it difficult?" he asked as he glanced between the two girls.

Buffy shrugged. She wouldn't say it was the hardest fight she had ever been in, but she was definitely out of the loop and was not sure how to take them on. "If it weren't for Carri who knows how it would have turned out."

Giles shut the book he was looking at as he leaned against the counter. "I feel as though this is my fault." He said with a sigh. "You aren't prepared for this."

"It isn't your fault." Carri assured him. He looked at her, waiting for more. She was debating what to say. Finally, she decided to give the vaguest response possible. "This is my department. You're not supposed to have to worry about this, just like I shouldn't worry about vampires."

Before Giles could respond, Willow and Xander burst into the library. "Is everyone ok?" Willow asked, watching as Buffy and Carri nodded in response.

"What exactly went on back there?" Xander asked as he gestured toward the general area of the building they had been in earlier. "Those big bird things were not happening."

"There's no time for an explanation now." Carri spoke quickly. She was not going to give an explanation. She hoped that if she just skimmed over that part and went into the matter at hand, Xander would forget all about the details. "Buffy and I have a lot of preparing to do before nightfall."

"What are we waiting for?" Buffy asked. She definitely needed all the tricks Carri knew to take care of the birds. "Let's get started." She said, turning to face Carri so that the two girls could go over all their information to give themselves an edge over their enemies.

* * *

Rocky walked into one of the university's smaller cafeterias that was located closest to his dorm room. It did not take him long to spot the two people he was looking for. He was glad that they had decided to come here tonight like they originally said they would.

"Hey guys." Rocky said as he approached. He waited until the two of them looked up and acknowledged him and he continued. "Have either of you seen Carri?"

Tommy thought for a moment. "No… I haven't seen her all day." That wasn't unusual. Occasionally he would run into her during the day, but since they started taking classes the only times he saw her were planned meetings and ranger fights.

"Me neither." Kat replied. It was weird, Kat did not see her much anymore either. They were not roommates; they did not even end up in the same building. They could have been roommates, but Carri turned her form in without thinking about it and ended up with random draw. Instead of pushing the issue with the dorm room committee, Kat elected to go with random draw is well. She glanced over at the blue ranger and noticed his frown. "Why, is something wrong?"

Rocky shook his head no. At least he did not think something was wrong. He hoped not. Zordon would have alerted them if there was. "It's just that she was supposed to meet me after class today and she never showed."

"You know her." Tommy said with a shrug, not too concerned just yet. "She probably overslept."

"First, do you know how late she would have had to oversleep to miss me?" Rocky asked. Carri was good at sleeping in when she could, but there is no way she would have slept that late. "She wouldn't just not show."

"You're right." Tommy replied with a frown. Carri had been late for early morning things like school, but she was responsible. And she certainly would not flat out ditch Rocky.

The blue ranger sighed. "I'm going to go see if I can find her. I'll talk to you guys later." He said, turning and heading out of the cafeteria.

With a sigh, he made his way toward her building. He doubted she was there, she had not picked up the phone, but he still wanted to check. He was trying not to worry. There was no reason to think something bad had happened. If it did, he would have certainly heard by now. That was assuming something bad is related to Zedd and Rita. There were so many bad things that happened every day and he could not even think about the possibility that she was in a car wreck or attacked or worse.

Pushing those thoughts aside, he continued the walk to her building. As he got there, he pulled his student ID out of his pocket. He swiped it and the door clicked open. As he entered, he looked around the first floor. This particular building had four floors. One and two were guys dorms, while three and four were girls. Carri lived on the third floor, but there was someone he could visit on the first floor.

He was fairly certain he wouldn't find her on the third floor, but he knew if anyone had seen her all day it would be their friend on the first floor. He turned and headed down the hallway, walking past several rooms until he came to a stop in front of the one he was looking for. He knocked on the door and waited. A few seconds later, someone answered.

"You haven't happened to see Carri today?" he asked as soon as the door opened.

Jason stopped and thought for a moment. They were in the same building, he saw her every day, unlike the rest of the team who were in buildings on other parts of campus. Today though, he had not seen her. "No I haven't."

Rocky sighed. That left only one person to ask. "I guess I'll go talk to her roommate."

The green ranger chuckled. "Good luck."

"Thanks." Rocky said, making a face as he turned and headed for the stairs.

It was not that there was anything wrong with Carri's roommate. She seemed nice. Seemed being the key word there. She was not the world's most social person. She kept to herself, only occasionally talking to Carri. Talking to the boys was next to impossible for her. They were in and out of Carri's room and she got shy and quiet when they were there. Carri said it was something her mom told her about college boys, that they were always drunk and always after sex. She felt so strongly about that she had even told Carri that she and Kat should both dump their boyfriends to concentrate on their studies.

Rocky chuckled to himself as he jogged up the stairs. Carri had been quite amused by that comment. He had to give her credit though she held her tongue. There were a number of responses she could give her but she knew she was stuck with her roommate for the moment and she did not want her dorm situation to deteriorate.

Arriving on the third floor, he headed through the door and down the hallway until he got to her room. He knocked quickly and a few seconds later the door crept open and two eyes peered at him through the crack. Once he was identified, the door opened further, revealing Christy Filar, Carri's roommate.

"Um… hi." She greeted so softly Rocky thought she was whispering.

"Hey." Rocky replied, giving her a friendly smile. "I was just looking for Carri. Is she around?"

"She's not here." She said as she started to shut the door.

"Wait." Rocky spoke quickly, holding his hand out to catch the door before it got too far. "Do you know where she is?"

"No." Christy replied, shuffling her feet and glancing down at the floor. She was shy when it came to boys. She rarely looked them in the eye; her mother said that was a good way to show one was interested in participating in bad behavior. "She, um, never came home last night. I figured she… um… well… spent the night with you somewhere."

"She didn't come home?" Rocky asked a new wave of concern in his voice. He left her at the door last night. How could she not come home?

Christy shook her head no. "Thanks." Rocky said, barely noticing her shut the door as he turned and took off for the stairs.

He ran back down to the first floor as fast as he could and headed straight for Jason's room. Once he arrived, he quickly knocked on the door. A few seconds later Jason opened it, phone in hand. One look at the blue ranger and he put the phone against his chest to hide their conversation. "What's wrong?"

"I think we have an emergency." Rocky said as he glanced down at his communicator and back up toward Jason.

The green ranger put the phone back to his ear. "Hey Em, I'm going to have to call you back later." He said, hanging up the phone before following Rocky to get a hold of the others and teleport to Zordon.

* * *

That night, Buffy and Carri found themselves walking through Sunnydale, patrolling. Buffy sighed as she twirled a stake in her hands. "This is where the real fun begins."

"Hopefully the party starts soon." Carri said with a sigh. Patrolling was not her thing. She was used to going about her life, springing into action when she got paged. If they were going to be out here, she was ready to do some damage.

The two girls heard a squawking noise. Buffy turned toward the yellow ranger. "Is this soon enough?" she asked as a group of Tengas jumped out from seemingly nowhere. They immediately attacked the slayer, leaving Carri alone.

"Well if you're going to ignore me." She said with a shrug as she moved her hands into position. "Ninj"

Carri stopped short as a vampire jumped on top of her. Looking up she noticed that vampires surrounded her. "I think I liked the ignore me thing better." She grumbled as she attempted to move into a position to fight.

With Buffy surrounded by Tengas and Carri by vampires, each girl was on her own, hoping that their previous knowledge was enough to keep them alive.

"Stake through the heart." Carri said to herself as she pulled the wooden stake out of her pocket and shoved it into the nearest vampire. "That works." She commented as his dust fell to the ground.

Looking around, she realized that the vampires were closing in. She staked the closest one then turned and ran, figuring she could run and think at the same time. Following Spike's orders, the vampires chased after her.

She ran until she approached the museum. She headed toward the front entrance and pushed against the door. It was locked, but it was the only building she could find and she needed a place to regroup and get the edge. Cheating, she morphed into Ninjetti mode and slipped into the building. She figured she could sneak around and get back outside, taking the vampires out one by one as they walked around the building trying to figure out how to get to her.

The noise of the door breaking down pulled Carri out of her thoughts. She could hear the vampires enter, and she froze. She thought for a moment before groaning. Of course she picked the one building that had a "please enter here" sign on the front door. That had to be as good as a verbal invitation.

She took off through the museum until she came across an exhibit that caught her eye. Above the doorway was a banner that read "Xena Scrolls". She headed in and found handwritten accounts of what were supposedly Xena's adventures, along with her sword and chakram. She busted the glass case and took the sword out. As the first of the vampires entered, she started working on channeling her heritage as she leaped around them in her Ninjetti robes.

A few minutes later, all the advancing vampires were headless and dust on the floor. Carri returned the sword and headed toward the museum's exit. She needed to get back to Buffy and make sure the slayer was holding up all right.

* * *

Far away from where the fight originated, Buffy was handling the Tengas to the best of her ability. She had originally tried to run in the opposite direction to lose the Tengas. It was not that she could not fight them; it was that there were so many of them and they were used to taking a beating from the rangers, they simply got up and kept trying.

"This is not working." Buffy said with a sigh as she realized she could not shake the birds. She stopped abruptly and turned. "We'll just play this your way." She said, decking the first Tenga that approached. She would have to beat them into submission if she wanted to win.

The Tengas came at her one by one, and each time one approached, she threw him back like it was nothing. "You'll have to do better than that." Buffy said with a grin as one stood and she threw it on top of two of its friends. "This isn't so hard once you get the hang of it."

What she did not know was that there were more Tengas approaching, and all at once, they attacked. "Ok, totally unfair odds." Buffy said as the birds surrounded her.

One of them got a good hit on her, and she flew through the air and landed on the ground hard. "That hurt." Buffy said as she stood. "You're so gonna pay for that."

She ran back in to confront the Tengas. Thanks to her slayer strength, she was getting good hits in, but there were too many of the birds for her to get a victory. She was thrown back a second time and she hit a tree before falling to the ground.

She was a bit slower to stand this time, and she watched as all the Tengas grouped together and prepared to advance. She moved into fighting stance, but never got a chance to act. She heard someone call out "it's time for a gold rush!" and the next thing she knew a figure in black spandex was running through the Tengas and knocking them out. When he was finished the birds stood, squawked, and flew away.

"Wow my knight in shining armor." She said as the Gold Ranger approached her. "And it's shining gold armor too."

"I'm Lord Trey of Triforia." He said, briefly introducing himself. "I am the Gold Ranger."

"Nice to meet you gold ranger." Buffy said with a smile. He sounded fancy. He was a lord of a place she had never heard of. "Thanks for the save."

Trey motioned for Buffy to follow him. "I believe Carri is in need of our assistance."

"Let's go." She said as she took off with the ranger.

* * *

Back at the spot that the two girls split, the yellow ranger returned after her victory. She looked around and did not see Buffy or the Tengas anywhere.

"Buffy!" she yelled as she walked around, keeping an eye out for her friend. She got no reply and found no evidence of what happened there. "I hope she's alright." She said to herself.

Suddenly something hit Carri hard from the side, and she fell to the ground clutching her face. Her head hurt like she just got hit with a ton of bricks. As she looked up to see what did the damage, she realized there were more vampires than before surrounding her.

"I think I'm in trouble now." She said as she tried to figure out what her next move would be.

* * *

The rangers were in the Power Chamber, and Rocky just finished explaining everything. "I think she's missing." He said quickly. "Rita and Zedd could have her, it makes the most sense." He almost hoped it was them, at least he could go after them to get her back. "Or"

"Calm down rangers." Zordon said. There was no need for Rocky to continue to theorize while making the rest of the group antsy.

"But Zordon" Tommy started to protest. A member of their team, of his team, was missing. Now was the time for action.

"Rangers, Carri is not missing." Alpha assured them, cutting the red ranger off.

"Then where is she?" Kat asked, concerned about her cousin's wellbeing.

"Carri has gone on a mission." Zordon replied. He was waiting to hear back from his yellow ranger for conformation on all the details of what was going on. He suspected she had a good idea of what was happening by now and had gotten hung up with events in Sunnydale.

"A mission?" Rocky replied, confused. Why would she go on a mission and leave her team in the dark?

When Zordon did not immediately answer, Jason continued. "What kind of mission?"

"I am unaware of all the details at this time." Zordon replied. "What we do know is that it involves Lord Zedd and Rita."

"Why didn't she ask for our help?" Kat questioned. Her cousin was a good ranger there was no denying that. However, she did not think she was that full of herself that she would take off and try to take on Zedd and Rita alone. That was a suicide mission.

"Until she was certain, she did not want to bother you with this and I agreed that it was a wise thing to do." Zordon replied. He did not want to pull his rangers out of their college classes for the chance that Rita and Zedd were up to something. He wanted to know what was going on before they intervened.

"So then do we know what's going on?" Tommy questioned. He did not like being left in the dark. If Rita and Zedd were involved, he wanted to be in on the action.

"Rangers, observe the viewing screen." Alpha said, pressing a few buttons on the console and watching as Carri's location came into view.

The rangers turned to see what was going on. When the image came into focus, they saw Carri laying on the ground, with a figure in a black trench coat standing over her.

"What the…" Rocky started, beyond worried and ready to teleport down there and save her. His expression changed when the figure helped Carri up and shifted so they could see his face. "Angel."

* * *

Carri brushed herself off as Angel pulled her into a standing position. She was lucky he came along; she could have been lunch by now. She glanced up and noticed that he was staring at her. "What?" she questioned.

"You're hurt." He said simply as he studied her face.

Reaching her hand up and sliding it across her face, Carri felt the blood that was oozing down her cheek. "Damn." She swore under her breath. "How bad is it?"

"About two inches long, by your eyebrow." He said as he looked closely. He tried not to inhale. He had not drunk human blood in a long time, and he did not intend to change that any time soon. However, he was still a vampire; smelling human blood triggered his instincts. "I can't tell how deep it is." He said as he moved back.

"Angel!" a familiar voice called out.

The vampire spun in the direction his name had been called from. "Buffy." He said simply as he went over and embraced her. "I was looking for you when I saw Carri get attacked. Are you alright?"

Buffy grinned and nodded. "Lucky for me I had my knight in shining gold armor to save me."

Angel glanced over at the other figure, who had gone to check on Carri. "I remember you." He said as he glanced at the spandex uniform. "I saw you that night in Angel Grove."

"Yes." Carri confirmed as she glanced over at Trey. "That was when he was playing the guess the Gold Ranger game."

"Now's not the time to get into that." Trey said, quickly changing the subject. "I just wanted to make sure you were alright."

Carri rolled her eyes as she glanced over toward Buffy. She was amused by how fast he changed the subject. Ignoring that for the moment, she continued. "You should be a ranger. We're always looking out for each other." She said with a smile. "Thanks for coming Trey."

"I picked the fight up on Pyramidas and since you're no slayer…." Trey's voice trailed off. "However I had to stop and assist your friends with the Tengas before I could get to you."

"Hey I was doing just fine on my own thank you." Buffy said, making a face. Of course, the reality was she was not sure what would have become of her if it were not for Trey.

"Now isn't the time for arguments." Angel said as he glanced toward Buffy. "You need to go check in with Giles."

"Right." Buffy agreed. Her watcher did need to get filled in on what happened here.

Trey nodded. "I need to get back to Pyramidas." He said before putting his hands to his belt and teleporting off.

"You guys come and go with about as much warning as Angel." Buffy teased as they turned and headed toward the school.

"We teleport." Carri said with a shrug. "I don't know what his excuse is."

The two teens giggled and Angel simply ignored them. He was much too old to get dragged into this discussion with the two of them. Besides, there was serious business and they needed to stay focused.

They walked the rest of the way back to the campus in silence, and as soon as they got on school grounds, they headed for the library. It was not long before they swung the double doors opened and headed in with a report.

"What happened?" Giles asked, the moment they crossed the threshold.

"Just about everything happened." Buffy said with a sigh. Spike was going at this more hard-core than they thought he was.

Xander was about to comment when he caught a glimpse of Carri. "Oh my God, what happened to you?"

"Me?" Carri practically squeaked as she glanced over at Xander. "Do I look that bad?" she questioned, turning toward Buffy and Angel who nodded. Carri sighed. Hopefully it would heal quickly.

"You look like you were attacked by something vicious." Cordelia said as she studied her face. She could not believe she had been walking around looking like that. It must have been painful, not to mention gross.

Carri gave her a slight nod. "Vamps."

Buffy sighed and jumped up on the counter and Angel moved to stand beside her. Xander jumped up and gestured for Carri to come take his seat. "Thanks." Carri said as she slid into the chair.

"I'll be right back." Xander said. He knew it was dangerous for someone to accompany the slayer. He went to the back and got a first aid kit, a clean towel, and a bowl. "Somebody has to clean this." He said as he returned. It was obvious it was not on the top of her priority list. He sat the bowl down and dumped peroxide in it then started to wipe the side of her face clean.

Willow turned away from Xander and focused on her best friend. "So what, exactly, did happen?"

"We were patrolling. Tengas attacked me. They surrounded me while vampires attacked Carri. I ran off trying to shake them but couldn't. I stopped to kick ass but there were more than I realized. That's when," Buffy paused when she saw the look the yellow ranger gave her, "they just left."

"Left?" Giles questioned as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I find that hard to believe."

"Anyway," Carri jumped in, hoping he would quit asking questions, "I ran from the vampires, found a place to hide, and when I thought they were gone I doubled back. That's when the vamp found me and jumped me from behind, and." She stopped and cringed as Xander poured peroxide on her still bleeding wound.

"I think you're going to need stitches." He said as he inspected it further.

Giles walked over to the duo and bent down to take a look. "Yes, I believe he's right."

Carri shook her head no. "I don't think it's that bad." She said, watching as Xander looked at her in disbelief. "If it's still bleeding like this in the morning, I'll go to the doctor." She doubted it would be. As long as she was a ranger, she had faster healing times. It should at least stop bleeding before morning.

"Fine, it's your face." Xander replied as he reached into the first aid kit and grabbed a piece of gauze. He took it and pressed it against the cut. "Hold this." He said as he searched for tape.

As Carri put her hands up to the thick piece of gauze, the double doors flew open and four figures walked through. They were a bit surprised, and Willow was the first to speak. "Um… hello." She greeted, not sure what else to say.

Cordelia looked the boys over. "Why hello there." She greeted them. They did not go to school here; they were too hot for her to have not noticed them before. She was not sure who they were, but she intended on finding out.

"Excuse me but the library is closed." Giles said as he stepped forward, taking charge. "They're here for a special study group."

"Her, study?" Tommy said as he glanced over at Carri and grinned. "I doubt it."

"Carri this had better be important." Jason said as he glared at her, trying not to grin. "Because of you I had to cut my call with Emily short."

Carri could not help but snort. "Aw poor baby." She said as she turned toward them and rolled her eyes. As she turned, they saw the piece of gauze she was holding up to her face.

Rocky immediately went to her side. "What happened?" he asked as he knelt down in front of her and put his hands on her knees.

"It's nothing." Carri assured him. She certainly did not need him worrying about this.

"Nothing?" Xander repeated as he held up three pieces of tape. "The rest of us say you need stitches. It's not nothing."

Rocky leaned in closely and pulled back a corner of the gauze to look at what was underneath. "That looks awful." He said as he put it back into place.

"Does it not look like she was attacked by something vicious?" Cordelia asked as she glanced at the three new males in the room.

"Cordelia." Buffy started before she realized there was no point in saying anything. There was nothing she could say that would faze her, so she might as well say nothing. "Never mind."

"Don't mind me asking," Giles said, somewhat irritated that they had important things to do and these people filed in unannounced and uninvited and interrupted them, "but who are these people?"

"Sorry." Carri apologized. She went to make the introductions, but before she could, Xander turned her toward him.

He had a new piece of gauze. He could already tell the other one was disgusting. He motioned for her to move her hand. As she did, he tossed the old gauze aside and put the new piece on, attaching it to her with three pieces of medical tape. It was the best he could do here.

Carri thanked him before turning back toward Giles. "This is the rest of my group. Meet Rocky, Jason, Tommy and Kat." She said, pointing toward them as she spoke. She glanced over at the rangers and continued. "Guys, this is Buffy, Angel, Giles, Willow, Cordelia and Xander."

"Nice to meet you." Buffy said, immediately putting the three teens she did not know with their ranger colors. They made it much too easy to figure it out, at least for someone who already had two pieces of the puzzle.

"So what exactly is going on here?" Kat asked, not missing the way Cordelia was staring at her boyfriend.

Angel went to get the others caught up. "Last night I was out and I came across Spike and Dru talking to Zedd and Rita. They were forming some sort of an alliance."

"He told me and I thought this was something you guys knew so I called Carri." Buffy continued.

"I came to check it out today since I didn't have class." Carri chimed in. "Sadly Angel was right, Zedd and his crew are working with Spike."

"We found out the hard way." Buffy said as she gestured toward herself and Carri. "We were attacked by Tengas and Rito earlier. We thought we had it figured out, but we just got back from our mini-war, and as you can tell we weren't completely prepared."

Jason sighed. The last thing they needed was Zedd and Rita making alliances with vampires. "Sounds like we've got a lot of planning to do." He watched as the others nodded in agreement. They all moved in around the table so that they could figure out what to do about this new alliance.

* * *

The Tengas returned to Spike, squawking furiously. The vampire threw his hands up in the air and made a frustrated sound. "I don't speak bird." He snapped.

"I gotcha covered." Rito said as he went over to talk to the Tengas. A few minutes later, he turned to face Spike. "They don't have her."

The bleach blond vampire shot him a look. "Well I can see that." He said with a sigh. "They better have a damn good reason for returning without the slayer. Otherwise I may just have to stuff them and use them for decoration."

The Tengas started going crazy. Rito got them to calm down and tell him what happened. "Makes sense." Rito said before turning back to Spike. "The Gold Ranger showed up. Got 'em with a gold rush."

"Gold rush?" Spike repeated, looking at him questioningly.

"Yup." Rito replied. "He takes his power staff, yells time for a gold rush, and runs through them." Rito paused, shuddering at the memory of one of his own experiences. "Lots of pain."

"If they want pain, I'll show them pain." Spike said, heading for the Tengas. He stopped short when a vampire burst through the door. Turning, he immediately noticed that only one of the vampires he sent out had returned. "Where is everyone else? Please tell me they are bringing back the yellow ranger as we speak."

The vampire glanced down toward the floor. "They're dust."

"Dust?" Spike questioned, his problem with the Tengas momentarily forgotten. "I send you out there with two dozen other vampires and you're telling me they're dust?" He was furious. This was an easy task.

"I saw the whole thing." The vampire said, immediately jumping in to defend himself. "My group followed her into the museum. I was one of the last ones to enter. When I found her, she was in some suit beheading them as if it was nothing. I ran, found the others. We waited for her and jumped her when she returned. We would have had her but Angel showed up. They took everybody else out."

"Let me get this straight." Spike said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "You ran away from the museum because you were afraid of a girl who wasn't even the slayer"

"I wanted to report back to you." The vampire interrupted. "Besides, she had some powerful attacks. Ask them, they know." He said as he pointed to Rito.

Spike hit him across the face as punishment for interrupting him. Then he started to circle the lone vampire. "You don't interrupt me. Now where was I?" He paused and thought for a moment. "You didn't fight the ranger the first time, and then you abandoned the others in battle. Plus you failed in the simple task of bringing me the girl. What do you have to say for yourself?"

The vampire did not have a good response. At least not one that would please Spike. "I'm sorry." He finally spit out.

"Sorry?" Spike questioned, raising an eyebrow. He let out a little laugh as he gestured for Rito to come toward him. Once he approached, Spike reached over and yanked his sword out of his hands, and in one swipe, the vampire in front of him was separated from his head.

Spike watched as his head tumbled to the floor, turning to dust before it ever hit the ground. He turned back toward the group as the rest of the dust was falling to the floor. "Now, back to business." He said, handing Rito his sword back. "We have a slayer and a ranger running wild. The way I see it, you have twenty-four hours to bring the ranger to me. If we can get her, the slayer will follow."

Rito scratched his head. "That's not easy. Those rangers are tough."

"Don't question me." Spike said as his head turned sharply in Rito's direction. "Get out there and do it or I will kill you and there's nothing your big sister can say to stop me."

"I'll take a group out tomorrow. We'll get her for ya." Rito assured him. He did not think Spike would follow through. After all, his father was Master Vile, and his sister was an excellent sorceress. He did not think the vampire would risk the chance that one or both would retaliate. However, Spike did not seem to be afraid of them, it was simpler to just do what he asked.

"You had better." Spike said his tone a warning.

Rito took off as Drusilla walked over toward Spike. "I still want to poke his eyeballs out."

"Don't worry love. You may still get your chance." Spike said before taking her hand and leading her out of the room.

* * *

"This is too much thinking." Xander complained as he fell back in his chair. "I'm heading toward a mind overload.

Cordelia snickered. "It's kind of hard to do that when you don't have a mind to overload."

Xander opened his mouth and pointed at her, but in the end decided not to say anything. It was not worth the argument.

Giles looked up sharply at the duo. "This sort of thing isn't getting us anywhere."

"The way I see it," Buffy started speaking before Giles started lecturing, "is we have to split up. We have to keep some from both worlds in both places. To keep either city from going to hell."

"Have you guys seen any vampire attacks?" he asked, glancing at the group that just arrived.

"Not yet." Kat replied as she glanced over at the others. Of course, they had been in LA at school. However, she had to imagine that dead bodies drained of blood in Angel Grove would be news that would have made it to them.

"I'll go to Angel Grove." Buffy volunteered. It would be nice to get out of Sunnydale for a bit, even if it was to slay more vampires. "The weekend starts tomorrow, hopefully this will wrap up by Monday."

"Buffy your mom is not going to let you just pick up and go to Angel Grove." Willow quickly pointed out. "Besides, what about the vampires here?"

"Angel will be here. So will Giles. And if Carri and Rocky stay, they have vampire experience." Buffy quickly worked through her idea out loud. "Tommy, Jason and Kat can stay with me in Angel Grove. I'll just have to make up something to tell my mom."

"It's the best shot we've got." Tommy said as he agreed with the slayer.

"I'll go home and make something up. I'll be back in a half hour." Buffy said as she jumped up and headed for the door.

Jason and Tommy exchanged glances before the green ranger stood as well. "I'll go with you. Rita and Zedd may try something."

"I don't need you to protect me." Buffy said. She was the slayer. Whatever they were throwing at her, she was ready.

"Buffy you've seen what you are up against." Angel pointed out. This was tough; she would be stupid not to let a ranger go with her. "Let him come with you just in case."

"Fine." Buffy said with a sigh. They did not have time to argue. "Just don't get in my way." She said as she took off with Jason close behind her.

* * *

It took ten minutes to get to the Summers' house. There were no attacks on the way. The two spent their time talking. Jason filled her in on himself and his history with the rangers, while Buffy told him a bit about being the slayer and what happened over last year's Christmas break.

Finally, they approached her front door. An idea came to Buffy, and she reached up and poked herself in the eye to jump start tears. She leaned her head on her shoulder as Jason looked at her oddly. "Just play along." She whispered as she opened the front door to her house.

Jason put an arm around the slayer and guided her inside. They barely crossed the threshold when Joyce came rushing through the living room to comfort her crying daughter. "Buffy honey what's wrong?"

"He told," Buffy paused to let some more of the fake sobs go, "he told me one of my friends from LA died." As she finished she wormed away from Jason and let her mom give her a hug.

"Sweetie that's terrible." She said as she put her arms around her daughter.

"I want to go to LA this weekend. For the funeral." Buffy said as her sobs lessened. "He said he'll take me and bring me back in time for school."

"Of course." Joyce said as she let Buffy go. "Why don't you go upstairs and pack." She watched as her daughter nodded and turned and headed up the stairs. Once she was gone, she turned toward her friend. "This is just horrible."

Jason nodded as he thought of a good reply. "There was a drunk driver and an accident…." He let his voice trail off as he shook his head.

"I feel horrible for Buffy. It's not easy to lose a friend like that." Joyce said. She took that moment to get a good look at Jason and it dawned on her that they never met before. "I don't think we've been introduced. I'm Joyce Summers, Buffy's mom."

"Jason Scott." He said as he reached out and shook her hand.

"So," Joyce started as she let her hand fall back to her side, "how do you know Buffy?"

"We went out a few times." Jason quickly lied. He hated lying to Buffy's mom. It was one thing lying to his own mother when he went out to save the world. It was another lying to hers. "We stayed friends afterward."

"Really?" Joyce questioned as she made a face. "I'm surprised I never heard about you before."

"Well you know Buffy." Jason said with a laugh. "She talks about a hundred things at a time. She probably mentioned me somewhere." He added, hoping he was right.

Joyce gave him a smile. "She used to do that all the time." She replied. She had not been that way since before the divorce. Buffy had changed a lot since they lived as a family in LA.

Buffy jogged back downstairs, duffel bag in hand. "I'm leaving mom." She said as she paused to give her mom a hug. "I'll be back soon."

"Be careful." Joyce said as she returned the hug.

"I will mom." Buffy assured her as she grabbed Jason's hand and led him outside. Within minutes, the duo was on their way back to the library.

Tommy looked up as Buffy and Jason entered the library. "You guys ready?"

"Let's go." Buffy said, giving him a slight nod.

Angel walked over to Buffy and put his hands on her shoulders. "Be careful." He warned. He would worry about her while she was gone.

"I will." She promised before leaning up and giving him a quick kiss.

"We need to get to Angel Grove and make sure everything is going alright." Kat said as she glanced over toward the slayer and her boyfriend.

"Come on." Tommy said as he gestured for them to exit the library. He was not sure what everyone knew, and he did not want to teleport in front of a room full of strangers. Instead, he took the group outside the double doors and searched for a better spot.

Once they disappeared, Rocky turned toward the others. "What are we supposed to do?" he asked. This was new to him; he had no idea where to go from here.

Carri shrugged. "It can't hurt to patrol one more time." They were sort of taking Buffy's place. They could not let her city go to hell, or the hellmouth, while she was gone.

Angel nodded in agreement. "As soon as Spike hears that Buffy is gone, he's going to try to flood the city with vamps to take over."

"You're right; you should go out once more tonight." Giles said as the trio headed for the door. "Let me know if anything happens." He said as they were walking out. Giles sighed. He hoped they were doing the right thing and that both cities would remain protected.

* * *

The three power rangers, along with the slayer, teleported into the Power Chamber. As they arrived, Buffy looked around. "Nothing has changed." She commented.

"What is going on?" Zordon asked, noting that he lost another ranger but gained the slayer. They must have come to some sort of decision about the best course of action.

Before anyone could answer, the alarms went off. After doing a quick scan, Alpha pulled up the disturbance on screen. A group of vampires was terrorizing some teens in the park.

Buffy stepped forward and spoke quickly. "Jason, Kat, you're with me." She said as she glanced over at them. "Tommy, you stay and fill Zordon in."

Tommy started to protest, after all, he was the team's leader; he should go down and fight. However, Buffy was the expert on vampires. For now, he would follow her lead. "Fine." He said.

The slayer nodded and Alpha went to teleport them to the park. As she arrived, the vampires looked up in surprise. "Bet you didn't expect to see me here." She said with a grin.

"We're going to eat you and your friends alive." A vampire threatened, completely ignoring the fact that she was the slayer. How hard could this be?

Buffy snorted. "You think you guys could come up with some new lines?" She asked. The vampire snarled in response and Buffy shrugged before running to attack. This was the kind of fighting she was used to. It did not take her long to slay the cocky vampire, and she glanced over just in time to see Jason stick a stake through another one. "Have you done this before?"

"Not with vampires." Jason replied. Although after years of Putties, Cogs and Tengas, vampires were just another enemy to fight. Buffy looked like she was about to reply, but they did not get a chance to continue as two more vampires came toward them.

Elsewhere on the battlefield, the pink ranger was having a bit tougher of a time. She was not the world's best slayer, but she was figuring it out. She did all right until she got ambushed by a group of the undead.

One of the vampires looked at her and smiled. "The pink ranger." He said, pleased with his catch. "We should make her one of us." Spike would love that. Not only would he get one over on the slayer, but also he would have a ranger on his team.

As he moved in closer, his face suddenly froze. Before Kat knew what was happening, he turned into dust and fell to the ground. Where he once stood was the red ranger. "I prefer you stay on this side." Tommy said with a grin as he moved in to fight the other vampires that had a hold of Kat.

A few minutes later, all the vampires were gone. Buffy nodded to herself, satisfied that they had gotten rid of all of them. Then she turned to walk off.

"Where are you going?" Tommy called after her. She could not just come and go as she pleased she was working with them.

"They're here, which means I need to patrol." Buffy replied. She might be able to get away with the rangers monitoring, but she wanted to keep an eye on things herself. "You in?"

Jason quickly volunteered to help, while Tommy elected to take Kat home. The pink and red ranger's teleported away while Jason walked over to the slayer. "Let's go." He said as the two took off in search of more vampires.

* * *

Joyce was making breakfast when Carri came into the kitchen the next morning, barely awake. She smiled at her as she walked over and sat on a stool. "You were out late last night."

"I was at," Carri paused, trying to think of the name of the club Buffy told her about, "the Bronze." She finished as it came to her.

"Oh. Well that's a nice place for teenagers to go." Joyce said, glancing away from what she was cooking long enough to look her over. "Did you hurt yourself there?"

"Huh?" Carri asked before remembering the cut above her eye. She reached up and touched it with her hand. It closed up overnight so she could throw the gauze away, but it was still a mess. "Yeah. Someone accidentally dropped a glass and a piece of it flew up and got me good."

"Ah." Joyce said as she turned her attention back to breakfast. "It's a shame about Buffy's friend. I'm sorry she had to leave so abruptly." It was why she was cooking breakfast. She felt bad for the girl, taking a bus to see Buffy only for Buffy to have to leave for the weekend.

"It is." Carri agreed, although she had no idea what she was talking about. "I'm sure I'll find something to do while I'm here."

The doorbell rang and Joyce put down her cooking utensils to go answer it. She opened the door and found a stranger standing on the other side of it. "Yes?"

"Hi." Rocky said, not knowing what else to say. He had spent the night at Giles's place the night before, and was eager to meet up with his girlfriend this morning. "I'm looking for Buffy and Carri."

"Buffy left last night. There was a tragic accident and, well." Joyce stopped and frowned. "Carri is here though. We were just getting ready to have breakfast. You are welcome to join us."

"Thank you." Rocky said as he smiled at her. "Rocky DeSantos." He said, extending his hand as he introduced himself.

"Joyce Summers." She replied, taking his hand and shaking it. She looked him over as he stepped inside and she shut the door. "I remember you from somewhere."

"I live in Angel Grove." Rocky told her. He had seen her when Buffy was in town last year, but they never officially met.

"That must be it." Joyce said with a smile as she turned and led him into the kitchen. "Carri, your friend is here." She said, grabbing the girl's attention as she headed back to the stove.

Carri turned around and saw Rocky walking in. "Morning." She said, smiling at him.

"Morning." He replied as he sat down on a stool next to Carri. He resisted the urge to kiss her. It was somewhat weird in front of Buffy's mom.

"I believe we are ready to make pancakes." Joyce said as she turned and smiled at the two teens.

"Pancakes." Rocky repeated with a grin. He knew there was a reason he got up and came over here. "Sounds good."

Carri could not help but snort at her boyfriend's enthusiasm over pancakes. "You may need to make an extra batch with him here."

Rocky smiled and gave her a playful shove. Carri, not prepared for the shove, tumbled off the stool and onto the floor. He snickered and she laughed. Joyce simply smiled and the two teens and turned her attention back to breakfast.

* * *

The Angel Grove Youth Center was full of kids and teens that were out and about on a Saturday morning. One of the groups that were hanging around had not been there in a few weeks and was enjoying spending time at their high school hang out spot.

"What do you guys want to do today?" Tommy asked as he glanced around at the two rangers and the slayer.

Buffy shrugged in response. "What do you guys normally do all day?"

"Do you need to patrol?" Tommy asked. He was not sure what the full realm of her duties involved. There were no vampires out during the day, but that did not mean there weren't other creatures to look for.

Buffy could not help but laugh at him. "You don't watch many vampire movies do you?" she said, watching as he gave her a look. "Sun's up that means they're not. Unless of course they're doing me a favor by dusting themselves."

"That's not what I meant." Tommy said. He was not stupid. "Do you not worry about monsters?"

"From Spike?" Buffy asked, watching as Tommy nodded in response. "No. He usually just throws his vamps at me."

"That must be nice, not having a twenty four hour job." Kat said as she thought about it. She would love to only need to fight for half the day. That would give her time for school and dance and anything else she wanted to do without worrying about being paged any time day or night.

"In some ways." Buffy replied. If she had to patrol all day and all night that would be a pain. However, there was a ton of negatives that came with being on the lookout for vampires every night. "I get the daytime to do things. Go to school, hang with friends, and plan the next attack. Then I know what I am supposed to do every night and it kind of puts a cramp in my social life. It's hard to go to the Bronze when there is an apocalypse pending."

Before anyone could comment further, a female approached the table. "Hey guys." She said as she pulled up a chair and sat down next to Jason. "Sorry I'm late."

"That's alright." Jason said as he leaned over and gave her a kiss. "I'm just glad you made it." He had not planned to be in Angel Grove this weekend, but as long as he was there, he wanted to see his girlfriend. He was just happy she had time off to visit with him.

She smiled at him before glancing around the table and noticing the new girl. "I'm Emily." She said as she held her hand out.

"Buffy." The slayer replied, taking her hand and shaking it briefly.

A silence settled over the table. With Emily there and Buffy not part of their normal activities, no one was quite sure what to say. Finally Kat spoke. "Let's go out this afternoon."

"Where to?" Jason asked as he glanced over at the pink ranger.

Tommy grinned as an idea came to him. "Let's go play mini-golf." He suggested. He had not played in forever, and he noticed a new place that looked cool right outside of town. He thought about taking the others, but they had not had a chance to go yet.

"I haven't played mini-golf since I was little." Emily said with a smile.

"Then it's settled." Buffy said, her way of agreeing with the idea. "Mini-golf it is." With that, the group got up from the table and headed out the door.

* * *

"We need a new plan. One that." Spike stopped short when one of his minions interrupted him. He hated getting interrupted. "What is it?" he questioned harshly.

The vampire bowed down in front of him, hoping his news was good enough that he was not going to get killed for the interruption. "There's another ranger in town, however, the slayer has left Sunnydale."

"The slayer has left." Spike said thoughtfully. "Well now, that gives us more room to play." He said with a smile as he started to pace around the room while thinking. "We've got a group here that can slay vampires and fight monsters decently." He thought aloud. "What if…"

Spike grinned wickedly and stopped pacing. "Rito!" he yelled. "Where is that idiot when I need him?" He grumbled when there was no sign of him. "Rito!" he yelled once more, this time slightly agitated.

Rito made his way into the room. "Whatcha need?" he asked as he walked over toward the vampire.

"I want you to find Zedd and tell him to get down here now." Spike spoke quickly. "I have an idea that will get rid of the rangers and destroy the slayer's pesky friends."

"Alright. I'll go get him." Rito said, teleporting himself out in order to get the ball rolling on Spike's newest plan.

* * *

"This is the last time I lose." Carri grumbled as she carried a bag full of food down the hallway of Sunnydale High. She had much rather stay, strategize, and send someone else for the food. Instead, she flubbed paper-rock-scissors and here she was.

"I'm used to getting food." Xander said with a shrug. He was not the strong one, he was not the smart one, and he was not the librarian with the wealth of knowledge. Sadly, errand boy was one of his strong points. "It's nothing after a while."

"Yeah, well, next time Rocky orders the entire menu he can bring it back." Carri said with a sigh. Not that it was the worst thing to have to do in the world, but she wanted to be working on how to stop Spike and Zedd, not making sure they had enough packets of soy sauce.

Xander glanced at her and grinned. "Hey, us guys gotta eat."

"This much?" Carri replied with a smile as she raised an eyebrow.

Before Xander could come up with a retort, a voice called for them to halt. "Stop right there." He said, waiting as the rangers stopped in their tracks, their backs still turned toward him. "I am Vampiro and I have come to bring you to your end."

"Vampiro?" Carri questioned skeptically. "Been there, done that." At least this one did not sound like a bad imitation of Dracula.

"I can guarantee you that you have not been here." Vampiro said with a laugh.

Carri sighed and turned around. As she got a look at him, she realized he was unlike any monster she had ever seen. "What in the world are you?" she asked, wondering if Zedd threw all the ugliest things he could find together to make this one.

"Little girl I am your worst nightmare." He replied with a snarl.

"Little girl?" she repeated, dropping the food on the floor and crossing her arms over her chest. She cocked her head to the side and glared at him. "That's it. You're through." She said before glancing toward Xander. "Get out of here."

Xander was happy to oblige this time, turning around to make a run for it. He didn't get very far though as a group of Tengas materialized to greet him. "Easier said than done."

"Damn." She swore under her breath. Taking a moment to prepare herself, she shifted into fighting stance and glared at the monster. "Alright Vampiro, let's see what you've got."

Several figures teleported around him before the yellow ranger got a chance to get a shot off. One of their guests was Goldar. "Don't be stupid ranger." He had to come down; he could not pass up the opportunity to get rid of a ranger.

The Tengas that were behind and in front of them rushed in to attack. "This isn't looking good." Xander pointed out the obvious. He could fight, somewhat, but this was not his thing.

Just when they thought things could not get any worse, Goldar appeared in the middle of the fight and the monster fired on them. Carri and Xander fell back to the floor. The yellow ranger picked herself up and saw Xander doing the same. There was obviously no backup coming; there was only one thing left to do.

"I didn't want it to come to this." She said with a sigh. Revealing her secret identity is frowned upon, but she was not about to let them get killed either. "It's morphin time! Zeo ranger two, yellow!"

Xander stood there in awe as in the blink of an eye, the woman in front of him transformed into a yellow outfit. "So you are a spandex wearing super-heroine." He said in disbelief.

"Zeo two, power weapon!" she called out, ignoring Xander for the time being. When it appeared in her hands she jumped up to attack Vampiro, but he held a hand up and sent her crashing into the wall.

"Pathetic ranger. Get up and fight." Goldar challenged her.

"Oh I'll fight alright." Carri spoke roughly, as she stood back up and charged Vampiro once more.

Vampiro, who was created from the combination of one of Zedd's most powerful monsters and one of Spike's vampires and given an extra power boost by Zedd, was too much for one ranger to handle alone. He fired at her, this time with much more power than the last. She flew into the lockers and immediately powered down, her limp body sliding to the floor.

Carri sat there for a moment, trying to get her bearings back. "I will not let you win." She hissed as she tried to pull herself to her feet.

"You can't stop the forces of evil." Goldar said with a laugh as he moved in to attack the unmorphed ranger.

Goldar flew at her with his sword. Carri ducked and kicked him, knocking the weapon from his hands. Ignoring the sword, Goldar continued to fight her hand to hand. She ducked one of his punches and as she tried to move around to attack, Goldar hit her hard in the back. Carri crumpled to the ground almost immediately.

Slamming her fist to the ground, Carri reached out and brought her communicator to her mouth. If they could not see what was going on, she was going to have to get their attention. Before she could say anything, the tip of a sword pressed against her wrist. "Not so fast ranger." Goldar said as he forced the communicator off and used his sword to toss it across the hall.

Carri moved quickly in an attempt to grab it as it went flying. As she jumped, Goldar stuck his foot out, connecting with her face and knocking her head into the wall, so hard she hit the floor unconscious.

"No!" Xander yelled as he tried to escape from the Tengas grasp.

"Weakling. You can do nothing to stop us." Vampiro said with a laugh as he hit Xander in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. As Goldar grabbed the ranger, Vampiro put a hand on Xander and they quickly teleported the teens back to Spike.

* * *

"What's taking so long?" Willow asked as she was leafing through the books in the library. She was hungry; they should have been back with lunch by now.

Rocky nervously glanced up at the clock. "I don't know. They should have been back by now." Carri grumbled about having to go in the first place. There was no way she would have taken her sweet time getting back.

Cordellia shrugged, not too worried about it. "Xander probably just got lost."

"Do you think they got into trouble?" Giles questioned, the boy's concern starting to worry him a bit as well.

"I hope not." Rocky said nervously. "She would have called if there was trouble." He added, mainly to comfort himself.

Willow slammed her book shut. "I'm going to go see if I can find them." She said as she stood. If they were in trouble, she was not going to wait here to find out.

"Be careful." Giles warned as Willow headed out the door.

They watched as the double doors swung open and Willow disappeared. As the doors finally became still again, a figure teleported down in front of them. "Who are you?" Giles asked the strange creature in the library.

"There's no time for that." Goldar said as he turned to stare at the blue ranger.

"What do you want?" Rocky questioned, ignoring the fact that everyone else was clueless as he stood up and faced the winged monkey.

"Want?" Goldar questioned with a laugh. "I believe I have something you want. Two something's. Or someone's. To get them back you'll have to meet us in the cemetery tonight and surrender."

Rocky's eyes were glowing with anger. How could he have taken her? He was not going to let Goldar get away with this. Of course, first he had to make sure this was not another Callisto style trap. "How do I know you're not lying?"

Goldar threw something toward the ranger that he had taken off Carri's unconscious body, then he teleported out. Rocky barely noticed him leave as he caught what was thrown at him. Opening his hand, he glanced down at the object. Sitting there was a silver chain with two glowing crystals, one blue and one yellow.

"Oh no." He said in a whisper as he realized that Goldar was not lying about capturing his girlfriend. He brought his communicator to his mouth, still holding on to the chance that this was not real. "Carri?" he said, completely ignoring the looks he was getting from everyone in the room. When she did not answer, he tried again, hoping that one of his pages would go through.

* * *

Willow walked through the hallway in search of Xander and Carri. As she walked, she heard a noise. "What was that?" she asked to no one in particular.

She looked around for a moment, thinking she was hearing things. Before she walked off, she heard the noise again. She followed the sound of the noise until she noticed a watch of some sort on the floor. Picking it up, she looked it over.

"This looks like Rocky's." She said aloud. Figuring he must have dropped it, she turned and headed back to the library.

As she walked through the door, she held the watch up. "Rocky." She called out, getting his attention. "Is this yours?"

Rocky ran over to her and grabbed it out of her hands. He only had to see the yellow streaks on the side to know whom it belonged to. "It's hers." He said simply, shoving it into his pocket. He turned around and looked at the others, determined to do something about this. "Let's go to Angel's. We can plan at his place. We have to get them back without giving ourselves up."

"We're going to need backup." Cordellia was quick to point out. Not that she was actually going to be doing any of the fighting. "As in we're going to need Buffy."

"Angel Grove needs Buffy." Rocky said, as he shook his head no. "We can't involve the others. They'll run here and who knows what will happen to Angel Grove." He said as he thought about it. "I have a better idea. I need numbers from New York and Florida."

"Easy enough." Willow said as she snatched her laptop.

"Let's go." Rocky replied, turning and heading out of the library. Willow joined him to help out in any way she could to try and get Xander back.

* * *

The moment Spike had his two prisoners he tied them up to poles, their feet bound and their hands above their heads. Carri was still out of it, but Xander was trying his hardest to get them released. "Let us go Spike!" he said sharply.

"Let you go?" Spike questioned with a laugh. "You think we're just going to let you go? Now that's funny." He said, just as the yellow ranger moaned softly. "Finally, it took you long enough." He spoke, staring at her as her eyes started to open.

"Where are we?" she asked, fuzzy memories of the fight in the hallway coming back to her. Her head was killing her, and she could feel her arms and legs tied tightly down to something.

"The old abandoned factory." Xander replied, glancing at her to try to see if she was ok. "Where Spike always takes us. Where we will be found and rescued." He added.

"Don't worry your friends will be here soon enough." Spike assured them as he smiled wickedly at them. "They'll turn themselves in, thinking it will save you. Of course we are going to kill you two anyway, then make them our bait. That should be enough to get the slayer's attention."

"What happens when Rocky and Angel kick your ass?" Carri questioned, a bit more alert and feeling a bit more like herself despite the headache.

"Well now," Spike started as he walked over to her, "either way the two of you are going to die."

Carri let out a little laugh. She was not afraid of him, she had seen worse. She wanted him to know that he was going to lose. "Your plan has flaws. It is never going to hold up. You have no idea what the rangers keep in the wings." She said saucily.

Spike immediately got in her face. "I know more about you than you will ever know." He spoke harshly. He did not appreciate the attitude he was getting from the girl.

"From who? Zedd? Now there's a reliable source." She said with a role of her eyes, not letting Spike intimidate her. "I'll bet he's leaving you in the dark as we speak. Maybe that is his plan. Put the rangers and the slayer against the vampires, when we all kill each other he steps in to rule the world. I will bet he has not even offered much help. Looks like you're about to get screwed on that deal Spikey boy."

"Shut up!" Spike yelled, slapping her hard across the face. He could not lose his temper with her and kill her yet, but he wanted nothing more than to sink his teeth into her neck and drain every ounce of blood from the cocky ranger.

Ignoring the sting in her cheek, she turned to look Spike squarely in the eye. "What's a matter? Does the truth hurt?"

Spike turned and stormed off. Drusilla walked over to him and put her hands on his shoulders. "Baby you're so tense."

"If that blasted yellow ranger doesn't stop running her mouth…" Spike's voice trailed off as he ran a hand roughly through his hair.

"Let me deal with her." Drusilla said, removing her arms from Spike's shoulders and walking over toward Carri.

Carri watched as the woman, who seemed odd even by vampire standards, approached. "You Spike's slut?"

A nearby vampire kicked her in the stomach and she cringed. Drusilla held her hand up to stop him from continuing. "I'll deal with her." She said as she got in her face. Drusilla had many odd talents; one of them involved messing with people's minds. She waved her fingers in the yellow ranger's face as she mesmerized her. "That's right. Watch my fingers." She said. As Carri watched Drusilla, the vampire shut her eyes, fully prepared to embrace the person Carri was thinking about.

When Drusilla opened her eyes, she knew that it had worked and that the girl now thought she was her boyfriend. "Hey baby." Drusilla said plotting out the ways she would torture her with this.

Carri looked her up and down for a moment before giving her a little smile. "Sorry, you're not my type."

Dru jumped backward, her mouth opened in shock. "How dare you!" she exclaimed. Nobody ever was strong enough to overcome her.

"Being connected to my animal guide helps me avoid stupid mind games like the ones you play." She said as she smirked. It was the weirdest thing. She could feel Drusilla trying to worm her way into her mind, trying to take her over to make her see what she wanted. Next thing she knew she got an odd feeling that reminded her of the moment she received her Ninjetti powers. Before she could process it, it was as though the panther jumped out and pushed Dru away, clearing her mind and keeping her from falling prey to the vampire's tricks.

"Stupid mind games?" Drusilla repeated, somewhat hurt by the comment. She still could not figure out what happened, but if she could not trick her, she would trick someone else. "Well if I can't play them with you, I'll just play them with Xander."

"I'm connected with my animal thingy too!" Xander exclaimed in an attempt to keep Drusilla away from him.

"I'm sure you are." She said as she giggled.

"Leave him alone!" Carri said a warning tone in her voice.

Drusilla found herself quite amused by the girl. She got in her face once more and smiled. "And what exactly do you plan on doing about it?

Carri, who from that position had no real options as to how to deal with the vampires, resorted to spitting in her face. Drusilla, somewhat shocked, reached her hand up to her face, before rearing back and slapping her. Carri recovered and turned back to face the vampire. "What is this, slap the yellow ranger day?" she asked.

"I ought to." Drusilla started, but stopped speaking when Spike grabbed her and pulled her away.

"Now Dru, we can't kill her… yet." Spike reminded his girlfriend as he separated her from the ranger. Once he got her away, he walked over and grabbed Carri sharply by the jaw. "Don't do that again." He warned. Then he reached his other hand out extending a finger toward her eyebrow. He ran it across the cut she got the previous night before moving slowly down the side of her face. "You have a lot of attitude for someone who is about to get killed. I kind of like that." He said.

Carri watched as he took his finger and ran it across her lips. Using the opportunity to do some damage, she opened her mouth and bit him. Out of frustration, Spike pulled his hand back and slammed his palm into her chin. Carri's head slammed backwards, knocking into the pole and knocking her out again.

Spike sighed and looked at his vampires. "Let me know when she's awake again." He said before turning and walking off. This yellow ranger was turning out to be more of a pain than he thought.

* * *

Buffy lay down in the sand and looked out as the sun was setting. "This is beautiful, and peaceful. I think I'm going to move down here."

Tommy chuckled from his seat beside her. "All for our sunsets."

"It beats Sunnydale." She said as she looked over at him. "Sure we can see the sunset, but it doesn't come with this awesome beach."

Jason looked over at Emily, who he was cuddling with on the other side of Buffy. "The sunset isn't as beautiful as the woman I'm with."

"Why thank you." Emily said, grinning up at him. She leaned in toward him and gave him a passionate kiss.

"Look at them." Tommy said as he glanced over at his friends. They ignored his comment and continued to kiss.

The red ranger was about to say something else when his girlfriend stopped him. "Tommy leave them alone. How would you like it if Jason interrupted us every time we went to kiss?"

"Yeah bro." Jason chimed in, parting from Emily and turning toward his friend.

Buffy sat up. "Kat, we can't understand what men do." She said with a sigh. She certainly could not understand the one she was with. "Sometimes I don't know if I would even want to."

The pink ranger giggled. "You're right." She agreed. "Getting inside his head would probably scare me." She teased.

"You don't want inside my head." Tommy said softly as he glanced down at the sand. "With everything that happens here, I've been through a lot."

"What's a lot?" Buffy questioned, noting the red rangers change in attitude. There was something he was carrying around that really pulled him down.

"I hate to interrupt." Emily said before Tommy could answer. "But I need to get going. I promised Ernie I'd help him tonight." She said. She gave Jason one more quick kiss before standing and saying goodbye to everyone and taking off.

Tommy was hoping Emily's interruption changed the subject, but from the look Buffy gave him that obviously was not the case. With a sigh, he told his story. "Right after I moved here, Rita kidnapped me and made me her evil green ranger. I tried to kill my friends until Jason broke the spell. I thought it was over. I did not know my powers were being drained. I eventually lost them. Zordon made me the white ranger, and eventually I became the red ranger. As the red ranger, I was kidnapped by Gasket and brainwashed me to get me to kill my friends. It almost worked. I was going to kill everybody…." As Tommy's voice trailed off Kat reached over and gave him a hug.

"None of that was your fault." She assures him. She knew it was hard on him, and that he felt responsible for every spell he had ever been placed under.

"I'd say that's a lot." Buffy said as she glanced over at Tommy. "Of course you're not the only hero with a bad story."

"What happened?" Kat asked, assuming Buffy was talking about herself.

"I was your normal, average, high school freshman when I found out I was the slayer." Buffy started her story. "Once I found out, I learned how to slay vampires. I learned quickly, but I could not keep my first watcher from being killed or my first boyfriend. Then I burnt down the high school gym. It was justified, it was full of vamps, but that was not explainable. It got me expelled. That led to friction between my parents, the divorce, and the move to Sunnydale."

"That must have been hard." Jason spoke as Buffy paused.

She nodded her head before continuing her story. "So I get to Sunnydale thinking the slaying is over, only Giles says I can't quit, it's my calling. My first night in town I get Xander's best friend killed. After that, things went smooth, or as smooth as they can go for a slayer. Then the master escaped. Before he did, he killed me I had to be revived. Afterwards I hunted him down and killed him. I was so freaked out I spent the summer with my dad. When I came back, the anointed one was trying to use the master's bones to bring him back. They captured my friends and displayed them like trophies. Luckily, I rescued them and was able to crush his bones to dust.

The trio was speechless. To think that one person would have to go through this was unreal. None of them could imagine what would happen if their friends were killed. That was something that they fortunately had not had to face. It did not seem fair for someone who saved the world to have to get punished like that.

"I knew I had you beat." Buffy said as she turned and stared out over the ocean.

"Buffy…" Tommy's voice trailed off as he extended his hand and put it on her shoulder.

"Don't feel sorry for me." Buffy said as she turned to glance at him. "It's in the past, I don't dwell on it."

Tommy took her comment as a message to him and he removed his hand from her shoulder. "It's hard sometimes."

"You can do it." Buffy assured him as she glance over at him. "It's been a while since some of this happened to me, and just as long if not longer for you. You have good friends. Let them help you. Use them to get yourself to stop dwelling on what happened."

Tommy sat there sulking for a moment. Kat reached over and put an arm around him. "You know I'm here if you ever want to talk." She said, leaning in to give him a kiss on the cheek.

No one said anything for a few moments. Finally Jason spoke. "Guys this is depressing." He said as he stood. "The sun has gone down; I think we are going to be needed soon anyway."

"Right." Buffy quickly agreed as she hopped up as well.

Tommy stood as well before pulling his girlfriend to her feet. He turned back and glanced around. "So where do we start?" he asked, still not quite sure how she knew where to go every night.

Buffy looked around until she found the direction she wanted to head in. "I'd say those vampires over there are a good place to start."

"What vampires?" Jason asked, looking around and not seeing what she saw.

"Those." She said as she pointed in their direction.

"How can you be certain they are vampires?" Kat questioned. They looked normal to her. They were not showing their fangs, there was no way to say that they were the undead.

"First, its eighty degrees and they're in suits. Second, only vampires have that bad taste in clothes." Buffy said as she walked over toward them. It was true; vampires tended to stay stuck in the decade they died in for a while. She had staked more than one vampire still in acid washed jeans or a tie-dyed t-shirt.

"Are you sure?" Jason asked, questioning her logic. He did not think there was some sort of rule that said bad fashion belonged to vampires.

Ignoring him, Buffy approached one of the guys and tapped him on the back. "Excuse me." She said. As he turned around, she moved quickly to slay both him and his friend. The others looked on in surprise. "Slayer's instinct." She quickly explained.

"Looks like you're going to have plenty of time to use it." Tommy said as he pointed toward the vampires and Tengas that were coming straight for them.

"This could get interesting." Buffy said as she and her group moved to attack.

* * *

As soon as night had fallen, Spike took his two captives to the cemetery and tied them up while he waited for his rivals to show. He was hoping that they would both be alert for this but it seemed as though that was not going to be the case. "Well I guess she won't be awake with the party." Spike said with a sigh after he slapped Carri around a bit but got no response.

"Yeah, well, the party is coming and you're going down." Xander replied with more confidence than he felt. He wished Carri was awake, and then maybe she could help him do something.

"You know I've never been able to figure you out." Spike said as he studied Xander for a moment. "You act tough, but when it comes down to it you're nothing more than a wuss. A quivering, cowardly wuss."

Xander snorted in response. Perhaps he was, but he was not going to acknowledge that. "And you're nothing but a ruthless, cold hearted killer."

Spike turned and walked away from him. "And I'm damn proud of it." He said as he went to grab Dru. "Come on love, let's get ready. They should be here any minute."

A few minutes later, two figures appeared in uniforms that were nothing like the one Xander saw on Carri. They were pink and black blurs as they took down the Tengas and vampires before stopping in front of him and Carri.

They turned around to stare at the group they had just attacked. "That's right guys, it's us." Kim said as she glanced around at the Tengas.

Adam nodded as if to agree with Kim. "And we're here to get our friends back."

"Not so fast." Spike said with a growl as a group of Tenga's and vampires rushed out of the shadows to contribute to the attack.

"It's time for a gold rush!" Trey yelled, appearing from out of nowhere. He managed to knock the Tengas out of commission and throw several of the vampires back.

Spike let out a frustrated sound. "Any more surprises?" he asked with a snarl.

"Just us." Rocky said, watching as Spike turned around to face Angel and the blue Zeo Ranger.

Pausing for a second, Spike took a deep breath. They may have had more here than he expected, but this was not a total loss. "Allow me to share my surprise." He said with a smile as he gestured toward the shadows. Vampiro took that as his cute to approach.

Rocky took one look at the monster and sighed. He was not expecting a monster. "You think you can handle them?" he asked, glancing over at Angel as he gestured toward the vampires.

"Not a problem." Angel replied, gripping his weapon as he moved in to attack.

The four power rangers moved in to take on Vampiro, with Trey stepping in at the lead. "Alright rangers, let's show him what we've got."

Rocky and Trey fired their weapons. The second the smoke cleared, Adam and Kim moved in to kick him, knocking him backwards. Vampiro, not too fazed by the attack, jumped up and fired at them. The group got hit hard and all four of them flew backwards.

"Let's see how he likes a gold rush." Trey said as he stood. Seconds later, he was flying at Vampiro, his staff out and ready. He hit him hard and Vampiro got knocked back once more, this time with more force than before. However, like the last time, he stood back up not that bothered by the hit.

He fired on the rangers once more, scattering them across the cemetery. Adam stood and turned toward the others. "I have an idea. What if we combine the power of the Zeo Cannon with the Gold Rush?"

Trey thought about it for a moment. They were only Ninjetti, but they are both connected to the power. They could probably use the cannon. The combined shot of the two blasts would be more than most monsters could handle. "That may work." He finally said.

Rocky immediately called for the Zeo Cannon, and it appeared in the hands of the three rangers. Trey went first, rushing in and hitting Vampiro with a gold rush. The moment he got hit by that blast, Rocky fired the Zeo Cannon and hit him again. The power behind the two attacks was enough to send him backwards for good.

Not ones to give up that easily, Rita and Zedd immediately made him grow. Rocky sighed and moved into position. "We need Super Zeo Zord power, now!" he said, grateful that Alpha worked it so the Ninjetti could use the zords. It had not been hard to get Zordon to agree to leave the others protecting Angel Grove unless absolutely necessary. Alpha then made the necessary modifications in order to get Rocky's plan to work.

"I hope I remember how to pilot one of these." Kim said as she jumped into the oncoming zord. "Hey this one is nicer!" She said before moving to bring her zord into megazord formation.

"Nice trick." Vampiro said as the megazord came together. "But I am still going to beat you."

"Stupid rangers." Spike said from his spot on the ground, somewhat satisfied. "It's going to take more than that to destroy something that's half vampire, half monster."

Trey was standing close by when Spike started talking to himself. Once he overheard him, he realized why this monster was so strong. It was not just a monster. He looked up and noticed the megazord getting kicked around. "I call upon the power of Pyramidas!" he called out, jumping into Pyramidas as it came toward him. "Rangers I have an idea."

"We're up for anything at this point." Adam said. Vampiro was a lot stronger than they thought he would be.

"Grab a tree from the surface and stake him while I fire." Trey said. It was an odd solution, but given the situation, he felt as though it might work.

"Stake him?" Kim questioned, confused. "I don't get it."

"Vampires get staked." Rocky pointed out what everyone was already aware of. "Is he part vampire?"

"Something like that." Trey replied. He watched and waited for the megazord to pull a tree from its roots. He felt bad about destroying the environment like that; however, it had to be done. He watched as the zord jammed the tree through Vampiro's chest, then he fired on it with Pyramidas. Then the monster did something they had never seen before. Parts of it turned to dust, while the rest of it fell back in the typical monster explosion.

"That was… different." Kim said, not quite sure how to categorize what just happened in front of them.

"Come on guys, we've still got two people down there." Rocky said, not too concerned with what just happened here. He would dwell on that later. Right now, he had to get to his girlfriend.

All four of them jumped from their zords and onto the ground. They arrived just in time to see Angel turning the remaining vampires to dust. As the last of the dust fell, the cemetery was as quiet as ever.

"He must have taken them away while we were occupied." Adam said as he glanced around the empty cemetery.

"I don't believe it." Rocky said, the weight of their failure sitting heavily on them. "I can't believe it."

"It's alright Rocky." Kim said as she put a hand on her shoulder. Carri was her friend; she wanted them rescued almost as much as he did. "We'll get another chance to save them. Just let us know and we'll be here for you."

"Let them go home." Angel said as he gestured toward the Ninjetti. "We're going to have to work this through. There isn't anything we can do now, I'm sure they are long gone."

"We'll be waiting to hear from you." Adam said as he and Kim teleported out.

"I need to be getting back to Pyramidas." Trey said before teleporting out as well.

Rocky powered down. "We'll have to research, see if we can figure out where they went."

Angel nodded in agreement. "Come on, let's get back to Giles." With that, the duo headed out of the cemetery and back toward the school library.

* * *

Buffy staked a vampire then turned to stake his friend; only the other vampire was gone. Looking around, she noticed that the others had retreated as well. "That's odd." She said to no one in particular.

"I take it they don't do this often." Tommy said as he and the others regrouped by Buffy.

"No." Buffy said as she made a face. "Not unless there's a bigger plan." With Spike, the chances were good that there was something they were missing.

Jason looked over at her. "Patrol?" he asked, watching as she nodded in response and led the group off.

"Do you think we should check in with the others?" Kat asked. They had not heard from Rocky or Carri all day. That was not necessarily a bad thing, but maybe it would not hurt to see what they were up to.

"If something was wrong, I'm sure we'd know about it by now." Buffy said, noticing the hint of worry in Kat's voice. Somebody would have gotten a hold of them if they were needed back in Sunnydale.

"Besides, it's not like Rocky to leave us in the dark." Tommy chimed in to keep Kat from worrying about the other rangers.

"I know." Kat said with a sigh. "I just have a bad feeling, that's all."

"The kind of bad feeling you get when a certain goddess comes to town?" Jason asked. Kat had a connection to her ancestor; she could tell whenever she was around. If Callisto was here, then they should be worried that they had not heard from anyone.

Kat shook her head no. Thankfully that was not something she thought they needed to worry about. "The kind of bad feeling you get when things have been a bit strange." She clarified.

Tommy put an arm around her shoulders. "Don't worry, I'm sure everything is fine. Zordon would let us know if it wasn't."

"Wait a second here." Buffy said, quite confused about part of this conversation. "Goddess?"

"Callisto." Jason said simply. "She claims to be the Goddess of War."

"Whatever." Buffy said with a shrug. "All hail goddess Callisto." She added sarcastically. She still did not get it.

"She's a goddess left over from ancient Greece. Why she's not in hell with the rest of her kind I don't know." Jason said with a shrug. He would like to put here there sometime. "She's tried to kill us twice."

"Three times." Tommy pointed out, interrupting Jason. "She tried to kill some of us when we went back into the past."

"So why haven't I heard of her before?" Buffy questioned. If she was a Greek goddess, she figured she would have been in a book somewhere. "I go to class... sometimes."

"She wasn't exactly one of the most known goddess." Jason explained. "We wouldn't know about her if it weren't for the ties to her human past."

"Ties to her human past?" Buffy repeated. This was getting odder and odder.

"I'm her descendant." Kat said softly. It was not something she liked to admit. Despite the fact that Callisto started out pure and innocent, she was now evil to the core. "The other rangers descend from those who knew her before she was a goddess."

"Long story short, Carri is related to her arch enemy so she comes to Earth to destroy her. She's not fond of Tommy's family either so if she can get him it's a bonus." Jason quickly explained. He imagined that getting the rest of the rangers would just be the icing on the case.

"That makes sense. Sort of." Buffy said as she glanced over at Kat. "So you feel her presence when she's here?" As she led the group into the cemetery, Kat nodded. Buffy acknowledged her before turning to look around. She quickly realized that it was eerily quiet. "Something's not right. Its prime time for the vamps, there should be a few hanging around here."

"Let's keep looking." Tommy suggested. "They have to be around somewhere." He said. He watched as the slayer nodded in response, and their group continued walking around Angel Grove, trying to keep the city safe from vampires.

* * *

It was bright and early the next morning, and after a sleepless night Rocky found himself once again in the library with Buffy's friends. Last night they had gotten nowhere, and they elected to get some rest and start fresh in the morning. "What can we do to find them?" Rocky asked as he looked around at the others.

"Normally I would say we should research first. In this case though I don't think it will amount to much help." Giles said as he thought about it. No amount of research would point them to the location of their friends. Angel and Rocky checked out the old factory last night. It was eerily quiet. Other than that, they had no leads.

"Maybe Spike will send his vampires out today to attack and we can make them tell us where he is." Cordellia said as she thought out loud.

Giles sighed as he turned toward the cheerleader. "Cordellia let me remind you that when it's daytime there is sunlight outside."

Cordellia rolled her eyes in response. "Well, duh." She said, irritated by his indication that she was stupid.

"I know who might know." Willow said, ignoring Cordellia for the moment. She had this thought this morning. It was actually a really good idea.

"Who?" Rocky asked, trying not to get too excited.

"Willy." Willow replied. When Rocky looked at her curiously she continued. "He's Buffy's snitch."

Rocky nodded. That would certainly be helpful. "Do you know where to find him?"

"Sure do." Willow replied. Willy was easy to find. He practically lived at his bar. "Come on, I'll show you." She said as she stood. She waited for Rocky to stand as well, and then she led him out of the high school and onto the street.

"So what do you know about Willy?" Rocky asked as they were walking. He wanted to know as much as he could about the man before he talked to him.

"He's a bartender. He runs a vampire friendly bar. That is how he knows stuff. They tell him things and he relays information to Buffy." Willow paused for a moment and glanced over at Rocky. "Well, Buffy beats it out of him."

Rocky raised an eyebrow in response to the last comment. "This could get interesting." He was not thrilled with the idea of beating someone up for information. However this was for Carri, and if it was the only way to find her he would. Zordon could not find her. Carri's communicator and necklace were not with her, and those were the two ways they could pinpoint her location. That and morphing, but since she had not morphed they could not tell specifically where she was.

It was a bit of a walk to get to the bar. During that time Rocky prepped himself for the conversation he was about to have. When they got there, he led the way in. Willow followed behind him and pointed to the lone man behind the bar. "That's Willy." She said in a whisper.

Rocky nodded and walked over to the bar, Willow staying close behind him. "Willy." He called the bartender's attention as he approached.

Willy turned and walked over to the newcomer. He looked a bit young to be drinking. That was, of course, assuming he was human. A good portion of his clientele was not. "What can I get for you?"

Leaning in closer, Rocky spoke. "I'm looking for information."

Willy quickly backed up. "Sorry, you've got the wrong guy." He said before moving swiftly to serve other customers.

"I think I've got the right guy." Rocky called after him. Willy was trying his hardest to ignore him. The blue ranger sighed and continued. "I've got some questions for you." He said, watching as he continued to be ignored. "I'm a friend of the slayers." He added.

At the mention of the word slayer, a few of the customers stood and tried to move as discreetly out the back door as they could. Willy sighed. Having this boy here was not good for business. He was going to have to get rid of him. He walked back over toward him and leaned in closely, getting in his face. "Listen pal, I don't care who your friends are, you have the wrong guy. Now leave."

Rocky briefly glanced back at Willow, who nodded. There was only one way to get information out of this guy and he had to go for it. Moving quickly, he grabbed the back of his neck and slammed his face down to the bar top. Holding him there, he spoke. "All I want to do is find my girlfriend. I have been told you know things. So either you share, or this is going to get messy." He finished, grabbing a beer bottle and smashing it, holding the broken bottle in his hand for the effect.

"Wait." Willy said, swearing under his breath as he saw the bottle. He was going to have to figure out a way to get the slayer and her friends off his back. Right now spilling his guts was the only way to do that. "Maybe I did hear something. Yeah, it is coming back to me now. Your girl and Xander. Spike has them. He's going to kill them tonight when you and Angel show up and the meeting place he's going to pick."

When Willy did not offer up anything else, Rocky urged him to continue. "Where are they now?"

"I don't," Willy groaned when Rocky held up the bottle. He did not know what was going to get him killed faster. Not giving up the information or telling people what he knew. Right now, it was not giving it up. "An old meat packing plant that is about a mile down the road from the old factory, he figures you all know about the factory, he wanted to change it up this time."

"The factory is where?" Rocky asked, thrilled to be getting somewhere. He did not want to hurt the guy, any more than the bruise he most likely had on the side of his face. However, this was his only lead. He was not sure what he would have done if Willy would not talk. He would have had to do something to prove he was serious.

"I can show you." Willow piped up from behind him. This was easier than she thought. Willy was scared of Buffy, and with good reason. She was glad Rocky seemed to frighten him a bit too.

Rocky nodded and set the broken bottle back down on the counter. "It was nice chatting with you." He said as he let Willy go. As the bartender stood back up, Rocky turned and guided Willow out of the bar so that they could head back and work on a new plan.

* * *

It had been hours since Spike knocked Carri unconscious. Xander was really starting to worry about her. He had been in and out through the night, slipping into sleep thanks to pure exhaustion. However when he woke up and she was still out of it, he was afraid something was seriously wrong.

Finally, Carri started to show some signs of life. She let out a soft moan as her eyes slowly worked their way open. It took her a few minutes to focus. Once she did, she got a good idea of what was going on. They were in a dimly lit room, cut off from the rest of the building.

They both had been chained to the wall, her arms separated from each other and held tightly to keep her from morphing. She yanked a few times to see if she could get the chains to move. Once she decided she was stuck, she sighed and relaxed as much as she could.

Xander watched her movements closely. "He's got you chained up pretty tight."

Carri made a face. "He knows I'll call on my Zeonizers and get us out of here if I get a chance." She said as she glanced over toward him. "How long have I been out?"

"For a while." Xander replied. "It's around lunchtime on Sunday."

"Shit." Carri swore under her breath. She was hoping she could have done something to help them escape. She wasted so much time. "What happened last night?"

"You missed a show." Xander replied. He had seen most of it before Spike took them away. "Angel was there. Along with a guy in blue spandex like yours, someone with a kick ass staff in black spandex, and two people in pink and black robe like uniforms."

"Kim and Adam were there?" she asked aloud. Xander could not confirm that if he wanted to, but she did not need him to. It had to have been the pink and black Ninjetti.

"They fought Vampiro." Xander continued. He did not think she was actually expecting him to answer that question. He didn't know. "I think they won but Spike got us out of there pretty quick once the giant robot showed up."

Carri giggled in response. She did not know why, but the thought that these complex fighting machines that she had never known as anything other than zords were being called robots cracked her up. She supposed it had been a long twenty-four hours, most of which she spent unconscious. There was not much else to do but laugh.

Once her laughter died down there was a silence between the two. Finally, Xander spoke. "Do you think Spike is going to try and torture us?"

"With him, maybe. He is a bit crazy." Carri replied honestly. She wished he'd untie them and try to torture them. Then she would show him a thing or two.

"He is twisted." Xander said. Another silence settled between them and it became obvious that Carri had nothing else to say about Spike. "So, tell me about this ranger stuff." Xander said, hoping she would be willing to talk about it. It was not like there was much else to do.

Carri sighed. She supposed it did not break ranger code to talk about it. After all, he knew who she was now. "Why not." She said as she prepared to launch into a discussion about the rangers.

* * *

"I can't believe it." Buffy commented, stuck on the slaying the night before. "All night and nothing."

"Does this mean something's wrong?" Tommy asked, glancing over at the slayer.

"I don't know. It's just strange how one minute we're covered in vamps and the next there doesn't seem to be one in the entire city." Buffy said as she played with the straw in her drink. "Maybe they got scared and ran off. In which case Spike will kill them, and we won't have to worry about them anymore."

"Has that happened before?" Kat asked, finding it odd that one would kill their soldiers over a single failure.

"Spike is unpredictable." Buffy replied. That was one of the first things she realized about the new big bad. "He's like the parent that grounds you for getting an F. Only he doesn't really ground you, he kills you."

"That sounds… pleasant." Tommy finished, not quite sure how to describe it.

"Around here when things get quiet, things get messy." Kat said. Quiet meant that the bad guys were working on a plan, something bigger and better than what they've done before.

"Like I said, Spike is unpredictable. The only pattern in Sunnydale is person dies, person is a vampire, and then person is slayed by a vampire slayer. Person is now dust. And repeat." Of course, vampires were not the only thing in Sunnydale, but that was the main cycle she had to worry about.

"Here you go." Ernie said as he approached the table, laying plates down in front of the kids. "Sorry it took so long. Emily is off today and I had someone call in sick."

"It's alright." Tommy assured him.

Ernie nodded. He expected them to be fine with it. They were good kids; they were not going to get mad at him over a late lunch. Still, he had to apologize. "You kids enjoy." He said as he walked off.

Kat waited until Ernie was out of earshot to speak. She supposed she did not need to, after all he knew their secret. However part of this was about Buffy's secret, and that was hers to keep. "Where were we?" she asked.

"Let's eat now and finish that conversation later." Buffy said. She did not want to talk about vampires while she was trying to eat lunch. She wanted to be normal for five minutes. "I'd hate to lose my appetite over Spike. Totally not worth it."

Tommy and Kat agreed, and the three of them changed the topic to something more pleasant while they ate.

* * *

"The plan is we bust through the windows, kick some ass, and save our friends lives." Rocky gave the short and easy version of what they were doing as he and his friends rode the Jet Cycles through the streets to Spike's temporary hideout.

"Sounds like a plan." Adam replied. They were getting the jump on the vampires this should be easy. There is not going to be many places for Spike and his crew to go during the day.

"We just have to be careful." Trey reminded him as he guided the red Jet Cycle through the streets.

"I just want to go in there and get these creeps." Kim commented. "I can't believe they've caused all this trouble."

"At least Angel found out about Zedd and Spike's deal." Rocky said. If he hadn't, they would have been blindsided by the change in tactics. Of course, if he hadn't, Carri might not be in trouble.

They arrived at the building and parked the Jet Cycles off to the side. They moved to surround the outside and go with their plan. Meanwhile, on the inside of the building Spike was doing some planning of his own, unaware of what was going on outside.

"We've still got the two brats captive." Spike pointed out. He was pissed that things went so poorly the previous night. He was not going to let that happen again. However, there was not much he could do about it now. Except take his aggression out on his captives. "We could torture them. I've always been a big fan of torture." Of course, the yellow ranger would not crack easily. That would make it that much more fun.

"Mmm… torture." Drusilla said, her face lighting up. "Oh Spike, that would be so much fun!"

Spike went over and put his arm around her. He was thrilled; ever since they made this deal, she had been much more like her old self. She was not fixed, was not even close, but it still pleased him to see glimmers of what she was. "You do seem to get much livelier when you torture someone."

"I like torture." She replied with a smile as she reached out and put a hand on Spike's cheek.

Before Spike got a chance to reply, the shattering of glass was heard from above. Beams of sunlight filtered in, frying several unlucky vampires. Spike moved quickly to get himself and Drusilla in a safe spot so that he could analyze the situation.

It was not long before what was going on became apparent. "You miss us?" Rocky asked as he and the other rangers hit the cement floor.

"Get them!" Spike ordered as a fight broke out. He knew this was going to be difficult; there were rays of sunlight splashing through in multiple directions.

One of the creatures that could fight with no worries was Goldar. "You won't stop us." He said with a growl as he approached the blue ranger. He attacked him, while Rito moved to take on Trey. The two Ninjetti's were then left with the Tengas and the vampires that had not been turned to dust already.

As Rocky and Trey fought their battles, the sounds of metal on metal clashing were heard throughout the building. It was not long before the rangers got the upper hand, and Goldar and Rito got flung into each other, smacking each other hard before hitting the ground.

"What do you have to say for yourselves now?" Rocky asked as he and Trey moved to stand over them, their weapons pointed at them.

Rito and Goldar stood up. It was obvious that they were unprepared for this battle and that they were going to lose. "Come on Goldie, let's get out of here. Ed will never have to know." Rito said before teleporting out.

Goldar growled at the use of the nickname. He did not focus on that long though. "This isn't over rangers." He said. It was better to leave now to regroup and return with a new plan than stay and get beat. "Tengas, retreat!" With his order, the remainder of Zedd's forces took off.

"Bloody hell." Spike swore as he looked around the room in awe. "That's it. Alliance over. I'll be damned if I let any partner of mine run out on me." He said before glancing briefly at the rangers. "Take care of them." He ordered his vampires. This was a giant mess. All the trouble they went through for this and Zedd's forces abandoned them.

The vampires attacked, being careful not to get in the sunlight. Rocky grabbed a hold of one of them and thrust him toward a ray of sun. "Where are they?" he asked. The vampire shook his head no and Rocky pushed his hand into the sunlight. The hand started to burn and the vampire screamed. "Where are they?" he asked again as he pulled the vampire back.

Using his uninjured hand, the vampire pointed toward a door. Rocky threw him completely in the sun and he caught on fire within seconds before turning into dust. Turning, the blue ranger headed after Spike and Dru. He fired at them, the blast hitting several boxes and causing them to fall on top of Drusilla.

Spike quickly helped Drusilla up. "This isn't over ranger." He promised as he headed toward the door. He could get to his car without stepping in the sunlight. It was time to get back to the factory and regroup.

Rocky watched him leave. He thought about chasing him but he knew he could not risk this being a distraction so that they could do something with Carri and Xander. He turned back to the action just as Adam moved to stand by his side. He noticed Kim and Trey finishing up the vampires who were left. He gestured toward the door and he headed over there with the black Ninjetti right behind him.

They approached the door and he gave it a pull. The unlocked door swung open, revealing two figures chained to the wall inside. "Carri." Rocky said, letting out a sigh of relief.

"It sure took you long enough." Carri said with a roll of her eyes. When the blue ranger stopped and looked at her, she simply smiled. She was grateful that this was over and that they were getting rescued.

"Are you alright?" Rocky asked, taking his Zeo Sword and cutting the chains off Carri's legs before cutting them off their arms. She collapsed and he caught her, holding her in his arms for a brief second before helping her stand on her feet.

"I'm just peachy." She replied as Rocky handed his sword to Adam so that they could cut Xander free.

Adam freed Xander just as Trey and Kim ran into the room. "Everything alright?" the Gold Ranger questioned.

"It is now." Rocky replied as he looked over and smiled at his girlfriend from behind his helmet.

"The vampires left." Kim told him. At least the few that they were not able to stake fled. "I guess that means we should too."

Trey walked over and stood next to Xander, who was leaning against the wall. "I'll help Rocky get them back to the Power Chamber. You two can head home."

"Thank you." Carri said as she looked over the two Ninjetti. "I owe you guys."

"No problem." Adam replied. They were friends and rangers; he would help again in a heartbeat.

"You can pay me back next time we go shopping." Kim joked with a smile. Of course, who knew when that was going to be considering she was still living in Miami.

Carri could not help but laugh. "Sounds good." She replied. Buying something for Kim was the least she could do. She watched as Kim and Adam waved before the duo teleported out.

"Let's get back so that the medical computers can examine them." Trey said. Rocky nodded in response, and the two rangers took Spike's former prisoners back to the Power Chamber.

* * *

Tommy yawned and stretched as the movie they were watching at Kat's house finished up. "That was kind of, well, boring."

"Just because there wasn't a lot of blowing things up doesn't make it boring." Kat was quick to point out.

Buffy shrugged. "It had a lot of sentimental value." She pointed out as she reached for the last piece of popcorn. Although she agreed that it was not the world's most exciting movie.

Tommy continued to stretch as he stood. "We should head to the Power Chamber, see what's going on." He suggested. They had tried to ignore all that during the afternoon, but he did not want to ignore it anymore. He knew they would tell them if there was a problem, but it could not hurt to check in.

"Why not." Buffy said as she stood. She knew they would hear if something was going on, but she did not like the wait and see approach any more than he did.

Kat stood as well, and Buffy grabbed onto Tommy's arm as the three of them teleported up. As they materialized in the Power Chamber, the scene they found in front of them was quite unexpected. Xander and Carri were both on med beds, and Rocky was talking to Zordon. The talk ceased when they entered.

"Oh my God." Kat said as her eyes immediately fell on her cousin.

Buffy crossed her arms over her chest. "What the hell happened?" she asked, furious that she was just now finding out that something was wrong.

"Spike captured them." Rocky informed her as he turned to face their visitors. "There was a long battle but we pulled through in the end."

"Are they going to be ok?" Kat asked the concern obvious in her voice.

"I'm fine." Carri grumbled from underneath a medical scanner. She understood they wanted to check them out, especially since she was knocked out twice, but she felt ok. A little tired, and a bit hungry, but otherwise ok.

"I just want to go home." Xander said, sitting up as Alpha cleared him.

"Why don't you take him back?" Buffy suggested as she turned toward the blue ranger. There was nothing she could do about this now. Everyone was safe, that was what mattered.

"You can take him back. After the last fight, Spike officially called the alliance off." Rocky informed her. He was glad; it meant they could all get back to life as normal. Well as normal as it would get for any of them.

"Called it off?" Tommy questioned, wondering why he was so far behind on what happened.

"After we surprised them, Goldar and Rito took the Tengas and retreated. Spike got mad and called the alliance off." The blue ranger elaborated.

Buffy nodded. "That's Spike's style." He does not tolerate failure. Them retreating would be a failure. She was not surprised he ended the alliance. With a sigh, she went to stand beside Xander. "Are you ready to go home?"

"Ready?" Xander questioned. He has wanted to go home since yesterday. "I'm more than ready."

"I guess this is goodbye for now." Buffy said as she turned toward the rangers. "We worked well together."

Kat smiled and nodded. "Let's just hope we don't need each other's services again."

Buffy quickly agreed. She enjoyed working with the rangers, but she was not so keen on all this villain team up stuff. She glanced over at Carri, whose head was surrounded by medical scanners. "Call me when you're up to it." She heard Carri make some sort of noise in response.

"Goodbye everyone." Xander said as he jumped off the med bed and looked around at the other rangers. "Thanks for getting me out of hell. Some place I never want to go again."

"Are you ready?" Alpha asked, watching as the slayer and her friend nodded. "Teleporting now." He said, and seconds later two flashes of light flew out of the Power Chamber.

Once they were gone, Tommy turned toward Rocky. "What exactly happened?" he asked, wanting the full story.

"I told you. They captured them. And we had to fight like hell to get them back." Rocky replied. There was not that much to tell. The fight was over, they won, and that was the important thing.

"And you didn't tell us?" Kat question. If she had known she would have helped, they all would have.

"Damnit Rocky, we could have helped you know." Tommy spoke harshly. He was the leader of this team; he did not appreciate getting left in the dark on this.

Rocky immediately jumped to his own defense. "I had Angel. Plus Trey, Adam and Kim. We had the numbers, they just got us good once and we had to try again. Zordon agreed with me that we shouldn't tell you guys unless we had to. We couldn't leave Angel Grove unprotected."

Tommy sighed. Despite the fact that he disagreed with the blue ranger's tactics, his friend was right. "We've been busy enough here. It probably wouldn't have been good if we had left."

Before anyone else could say anything, Carri spoke from her position on the med bed. "Finally." She said as Alpha cleared her to move. She sat up and the others looked over at her. Her stomach growled and she made a face. "You guys have no idea how hungry I am."

"I can take a wild guess." Rocky said as he and the others walked over toward her. He knew she ate breakfast yesterday, and he doubted Spike bothered to feed them anything.

"Why don't we order a pizza." Kat suggested. "We can stay in tonight."

"Sounds like fun." Tommy replied. He seriously doubted the yellow ranger was in any mood to do anything else tonight.

"Pizza's fine." Carri agreed. Anything was fine at this point.

Rocky reached over and grabbed her hand. "Let's go then." He said as he helped her down from the table.

As she hopped off the table, Carri glanced down at her wrist. Sitting there was her communicator. She smiled to herself, glad to see the familiar device back in its proper place. "Let's get out of here." She said, lifting her communicator up and leading the group in teleporting themselves out.

* * *

"You what?" Zedd yelled. He had headed down to the factory after Goldar came back with a report. He had not expected the vampire to be serious.

"Do you not speak English?" Spike asked as he glared at him. "I quit. I am through with you and your games. You claim to be the best yet when it came down to it, your little lackeys were worthless."

"This is the last time we bother with you." Rita assured him, wondering if there was something, she could do to make the rest of his undead existence miserable.

"Yes well it's not like we're looking forward to any future encounters with the likes of you either." Spike said. If he ever had to see either one of them again, it would be too soon.

"Spike I want to play with the dollies." Drusilla said with a whine, sounding more like the shell of herself that she had been lately. "Make them leave."

"You heard the lady." Spike said as he turned sharply toward Zedd and Rita. It was past time for them to leave.

"Come on." Zedd said with a growl. "Let's leave before I lose my temper." With that, Zedd and Rita teleported off. A few minutes later, the vampires remaining in Angel Grove were teleported back in.

"Well," Spike said as he took Drusilla's hand and started to walk off, "looks like it's back to business as usual."

* * *

Buffy walked into the library as she usually did after class. "Hey guys." She greeted Xander and Willow.

"Hey Buff." Xander replied, looking up and grinning at her.

"Buffy, you're here." Giles pointed out the obvious as he walked out of his office.

The slayer shrugged as she jumped up and sat on the counter. "Aren't I always?"

"Yes, yes of course." Giles replied as he went to sit down. "Are there any more details we need to go over regarding what happened this past weekend?"

Buffy shook her head no. "I think we've covered it all." She replied. There was not anything more to go over. That was the past and after last night, things were obviously getting back to the way they were before.

"Good." Giles replied.

"Unless of course there's something else for Xander to share." Buffy added. Xander had been very quiet regarding his experience with Spike.

"Me?" Xander asked in a high-pitched voice as he pointed to himself. "Nothing unusual happened with me. Spike kidnapped me. We argued. We were rescued."

Buffy made a face. She was curious as to what parts of the story he was leaving out, but it was obvious he did not want to share. "Alright, I guess if that's all."

"Totally all." Xander assured her. He did not want to talk about the specifics. It was not fun, and Spike did not have a problem hitting either of them as he proved while Carri was out and Xander jumped to her defense.

"So what now?" Willow asked, ignoring the fact that Xander was not being completely forthcoming.

"Now we go be teenagers." Buffy replied, jumping off of the counter. "At least until dark."

"Be teenagers." Willow repeated as she thought about it. "I kind of like that."

Xander and Willow stood up, and Xander headed toward the door. "So what are we waiting for? Let's go embrace the afternoon as teenagers."

Buffy smiled and followed her friend toward the door. "Later Giles." She said as the three of them exited the library.

* * *

It was after his last class, and Rocky found himself knocking on Carri's dorm room door. He had not seen her much since yesterday. She dozed off right after pizza, and she avoided hanging around in between classes today.

The door cracked open and Christy peered through to look at him. "Hello?"

"It's just me." Rocky said, giving her a little wave. "I wanted to talk to Carri."

Christy opened the door all the way and let Rocky in. Then she turned to pick up some of her things. "I'm going to the library to study." She spoke toward her roommate as she turned and exited the room.

Carri nodded but did not really take her eyes off the TV. She hardly looked as Rocky came and sat down beside her. "Hey." He greeted.

"Hey Rocko." She replied. She was glad he hunted her down. It had been a hard weekend for her, which was why she was not hanging around today. She was glad to see her boyfriend though.

"You've been kind of out there." Rocky pointed out. It was obvious she was not all with it. "Want to talk about it?"

"Nothing to talk about." She assured him. He was just going to worry. There was nothing he could have done. She split her weekend between being slapped and being unconscious. She was frustrated with what happened and even more frustrated that she had not been able to do anything about it.

Rocky stood and pulled something out of his pocket. "I've got something for you." He said as he put the necklace around her neck and fastened it. He wanted to give it to her yesterday, but she was obviously exhausted.

As the cold charms hit her bare skin, Carri reached up to touch them. "Where did you get this?" she asked, somewhat surprised. She knew she was wearing it when she disappeared. That was the last she saw of it.

"Let's just say it was a present from Goldar." Rocky replied as he sat back down.

Carri nodded, but did not say anything more. She was still analyzing the weekend as she mindlessly watched TV. Rocky sighed when it became obvious that she was not talking. "There's something bothering you." He pointed out as he took the remote from her hand and turned off the TV. "If you don't talk about it, it won't go away."

The yellow ranger sighed. It was obvious that he was not going to let her work through this on her own. He loved her, he worried about her, and she appreciated that, which was why she turned toward him and spoke. "It's just… I spent most of the weekend unconscious. Then when I was awake, I was busy being slapped around. He had me tied up so good I couldn't do anything but run my mouth. I don't think I have ever felt that helpless in my life. It's just so frustrating."

As Carri slammed her fist down on her bed, Rocky put his arms around her. "I wish there was something I could have done."

"There was nothing anyone could have done." Carri replied. She knew things were not going to go well the minute she woke up in Spike's possession. Rocky could not have done anything to change that.

Rocky kissed her forehead. "I'm sure there was something." He replied. It was hard for him to see her this upset. He cannot imagine what the last two days were like for her.

"Yeah." Carri said with a snort. "Next time, get your own damn food." Then it would have been her on the outside looking in. At least then, she could have done something about it.

Rocky could not help but laugh at her comment. Carri turned toward him and smiled. "Want to stay for a while?"

"I'd love to." Rocky replied as he pulled her in closely.

Carri grabbed the TV remote and turned it back on. She allowed herself to fall into Rocky's embrace as the two of them were watching TV. What happened with Spike was over, there was nothing anyone could do that would change that. Now what she needed to do was enjoy the time spent with her boyfriend and put all that behind her.


	16. Across Alternate Universes

**Dislcaimer:** The Power Rangers belong to Saban, Kemora belongs to KSuzie, all other characters belong to me.  
**Author's Note:** This story was originally written by myself and an author named Emily. It was based on her character Kanara, who was who KSuzie based Kemora after. In later stories, this fic was referenced as Kim's first adventure with Kemora, so this story was changed to fit the story of Kemora. The basic plot and several of the scenes are from the fic written by myself and Emily.  
Much thanks to KSuzie for helping me tweak parts of the story to mesh up with Kemora.

Ranger Scrolls  
"Across Alternate Universes"

"You have to fight it Kim! Fight the evil!" Tommy looked at her, his eyes pleading with her to stop.

Kemora snarled. "Kim's not here anymore." She hissed. Kim had not been there since those Turbo freaks let her take the dip in the pit. Kim was dead. She saw to that. Now it was their turn. They were the ones who caused her all this pain. Tommy chose the little blonde bimbo over her. He loved the girl who replaced her more than anything, and what Tommy felt for her now was nothing more than friendship.

She would make him pay for his betrayal. She already took his best friend. That was too easy. She killed him and stole his powers. That had been delightful. Of course, Kat did not have any powers to take. She would settle for draining her life force. Right in front of Tommy's eyes. Then when she was done with Kat, while he was crying over his beloved, she would take his too. She would take out her anger on her entire planet before it she was done.

"Say goodbye to your precious Kat." Kemora spat as she moved in to kill the girl.

Without warning, Tommy lunged forward. Kemora did not see it coming, did not expect it. She felt the sharp pain in her stomach, and then it shot everywhere, forcing her to the ground. "I didn't think you had the guts Oliver."

She tried to pull away, she tried to stop it. Using all her power, she could feel herself separating from her body. She could see her mortal shell, see Tommy holding onto it, see Kat holding him, telling him that he did what was right as the girl she once was died in his arms. Then suddenly Kemora felt something sucking her in, and without warning, she could feel herself flying. Flying through space, time and, alternate universes.

Finally the sensation stopped. She was a bit disoriented at first. Then she saw her. It was Kim. This was not her home world though as she could feel the differences. With all her strength, she hurled her essence toward Kim. She was not quite sure how it worked, but one minute she was on the outside, the next she was fighting Kim's thoughts. She was stronger than the girl was though, and she eventually silenced her.

It took her a minute to get her bearings. She looked down at her hands and smiled to herself. "This will do." She purred. Now it was time to see where she was and see what kind of damage she could create.

* * *

Four of the five rangers were sitting in Rocky and Tommy's dorm room watching MTV on a Friday night. Carri found herself spread out in the only part of the floor that didn't get covered by furniture. "I love this channel." She commented.

Her cousin grinned from her spot on the bed next to her boyfriend. "Me too. There are so many good videos out there."

"You don't look at other guys do you?" Tommy teased. Although he supposed he could not be too hard on her if she looked. He had looked at another girl since the two of them started dating.

"Of course not." Kat said, somewhat hurt that he would even ask.

"Tommy you know you don't have to worry about them lusting for other guys." Rocky said as he squeezed onto the floor next to his girlfriend, being careful not to spill his soda.

"Of course not." Tommy replied, putting one arm around Kat and leaning in to kiss her cheek.

"Everyone says these boys are cute." Kat said as she gestured to the five guys whose video was playing.

"Oh baby baby, the love that we had was so strong, don't leave me hanging here forever." Carri sang along to a bit of video, ignoring the fact that singing was not her strong point. She watched as the boys on the video took their shirts off and started dancing. "I can see why." She said with a giggle.

The video ended and Rocky reached for the tape they rented. "Come on, let's put this in."

"I kinda liked the dancing shirtless in the rain." Carri said, looking up and Rocky and grinning wickedly.

Rocky glanced over at her. "Well we can dance shirtless in the rain if that's what you girls want." He said as he jerked his thumb in Tommy's direction.

Tommy laughed. "Come on Rocky it's raining outside right now." He said, jumping up and acting if he was going to go out and do it.

"Tommy!" Kat exclaimed, a blush creeping into her cheeks as she giggled. "We know you guys would do it. Don't be stupid and make yourselves sick."

"We won't, I promise." Tommy said, kissing her as Rocky stuck the tape in the VCR and hit play.

Before the blue ranger could settle back down in his seat, their communicators went off. Rocky turned the VCR off as they all crowded around Tommy. "What is it Alpha?" the red ranger asked as he pulled his communicator toward his mouth.

"Jason is in trouble. You must go help him." Alpha spoke quickly.

"We're on it." Tommy said, standing and watching as the others jumped up quickly with him. "It's morphin time!"

"Zeo ranger one, pink!"

"Zeo ranger two, yellow!"

"Zeo ranger three, blue!"

"Zeo ranger five, red!"

They arrived to find the green Ninjetti under attack. An attack that started with a few Tengas but managed to escalated quickly. Jason turned and looked at the rangers as they materialized. "It took you guys long enough."

"Sorry bro." Tommy apologized as he and the other three rangers ran into the fight. He noticed the green Ninjetti disappear, and seconds later the green Zeo returned to take his place.

"Well this is fun." Carri said with as much sarcasm as she could muster as she slipped across the wet grass in the pouring rain.

Jason kicked the monster of the day, and then slid for a moment before coming to a stop. "Sure is." He agreed, his tone echoing hers.

They fought the Tengas in the rain and sent them packing, and then they focused on the monster and blew him up. As usual, the monster grew to city wrecking size. Tommy was quick to call on the Super Zeo Zords and they moved immediately into megazord formation. Seconds later, the monster was down for good.

Once he was gone, the rangers jumped out of the megazord and back onto the wet ground. "We should get inside before we all get sick." Kat commented as they were standing there looking at each other.

"The suits will protect us." Tommy replied. He did not notice the rain much morphed. He knew from earlier experience that it was a cold rain, but other than feeling it hit his uniform it did not bother him.

Carri could not help but laugh. "You're fine unless you two take your shirts off and start dancing."

Jason looked at her as though she finally lost her marbles. When Kat started laughing as well, he simply shook his head. "I won't even ask." He knew Carri was giving him a look behind her helmet and he simply shrugged. "I'm getting somewhere dry. I'll talk to you guys later." With that, a green streak flew through the air, and the other rangers were not far behind.

* * *

It was the middle of the next day when a small portal opened up next to a building and a woman was deposited. Kemora stood and looked herself over. The whole thing was still a bit disorienting but she was getting used to it.

She was glad she was figuring this out. It gave her more room to play. She was having fun, although she had already wiped through four Kims. This was her fifth, and this body was not going to last much longer. The problem, as she found out on the first world, was that human Kimberlys were great host for her seeing as how she was born a Kim, but they weren't good at processing her Muirantian energies. She had just killed Kat and was enjoying watching the suffering on Tommy's face when she realized the body she was in was dying. She tried to recreate what happened before. Much to her surprise, her spirit did not leave the body. She still transported though, this time with the body in tow.

It was an accident, but not necessarily a bad one. On her new world, she wasted no time looking for the resident Kim. She found her, in Paris with her mother. It was somewhat of a natural instinct when she found this Kim to go after her body. It was not hard to get her powers to do what she wanted. She took over this new Kimberly, leaving the dead body of the old Kim behind.

After disposing of the body, she took off for Angel Grove and wormed back into the rangers' circle of friends just so she could start slaughtering them. The second body was stronger than the first and it lasted a lot longer. She was finished having fun long before she started to feel it dying. The next trip was much easier. She was figuring out a system, a way to keep her in a body so she can continue to seek revenge and try to grow her powers.

By the time she got to her current body she had a good handle on the body switching part of what she was doing. There were still things to learn, but fortunately for her she was a quick study. With a smile, Kemora looked over her surroundings. There were palm trees everywhere. She frowned and went to grab the local paper from a stack nearby.

"The Miami Herald?" she said aloud as a smile crept across her lips. She was usually landing near the resident Kimberly, even if it was not intentional. There was only one reason Kim would be in Miami. She was here training for gymnastics, meaning she had already left Tommy to fall hopelessly in love with Kat.

She could take over this Kim and do some real damage. That was somewhat satisfying. The body she was in now was a waste. This Kim was weak, and she was not even a ranger yet. She killed her friends – Trini, Zack, Jason and Billy – but it was not the same. With a sigh, she walked out onto the street and looked up to see exactly where she was.

The building in front of her was a relatively familiar training facility. She knew where to go and what to look for. She headed through the front door, careful not to get spottedby anyone. She could easily kill whoever spotted her, but she did not want to alert Kim that she was here. She headed into the gym where she found Kim alone with her coach.

"Kimberly! Keep your weight shifted on your right foot when you try that!" he yelled out. Kemora rolled her eyes and walked into the room, her high heels causing a loud clomping noise. The coach turned around and froze in shock. As he opened his mouth to say something, Kemora sighed.

"I don't think so, old man." Kemora snarled as she pointed her finger at him. In a flash of red light, the coach became frozen in a bubble. Kemora turned back to Kimberly, who was frozen in her place.

"What's wrong, Kim? Cat got your tongue?" she mocked. Kimberly jumped off the beam, her mouth dropped open.

"Wh-what is...wh-who are..." Kimberly's sentence trailed off as she gaped at the person who looked exactly like her.

"Maybe you should ask who I was." Kemora said. She walked towards Kim, her eyes boring into the other girl's.

"You, you're my twin!" exclaimed Kim. She was right. Kemora looked almost exactly like her, except for the fact that she was wearing a leather outfit and her eyes were flashing a shade of red.

"Oooo, the airhead actually figured something out!" Kemora exclaimed, pretending to be shocked. Kim glared at her.

When Kim did not come up with a response, Kemora sighed. This little game with Kim was fun, but it was not why she was here. She walked up to her and circled around her. Kim was still frozen in place. That would make this that much easier. As she circled her, she could feel the girl's power, it was radiating off of her. She knew this body was going to be better than any of the other Kims she has played with so far.

Kemora stopped directly in front of her. She stared into her eyes as she prepared to take her body. She moved out of the weakened body. It was not dead yet, but it would be soon. She would take care of that once she was with this Kim. As she moved in toward her, she noticed the red and pink glow coming from her chest. She could feel the power that was once there. Feel its connection to Kim… to Tommy.

There was love there; she could feel the bond between the two through the shared powers. It both surprised and sickened her. It was almost as though she could feel Tommy. If she could feel Tommy, did that mean she could get to Tommy? Through this one little trinket, could she make him feel what she was doing to Kim? Feel the pain she was putting her body through as she slowly used up all of her life force? The thought made her a bit giddy.

She moved quickly to finish taking over this Kim. She pushed into her body, and she could feel this Kim fighting, unable to do anything about it. She moved further in, taking over and making it hers. All it would take was one final push to silence this Kim forever.

Wasting no time, she went for the last little bit. Before she could settle in and claim victory, the image of a crane slammed forward out of nowhere, hitting her back so far that she got thrown out of this body and back into her old one.

With a snarl, Kemora stood. This Kimberly had more of a connection to her spirit animal than she ever had. What Dulcea did for her, she did not know. Kim turned and tried to run, but Kemora jumped in front of her, grabbing her body and slamming her head to the ground. Once she was satisfied that Kim was unconscious, Kemora went back to the situation at hand.

Her task was not impossible; it was just going to be harder than she anticipated. The body she was in now was weak, it was going to give out soon, and it will not help her overcome the crane. She needed to increase her powers in order to do it. There was one good place to get powers. The rangers. She may not be in their Kim's body, but she was a Kim and she could still use that to blend in with the others.

She reached down and picked up the unconscious Kim. It was time to pay Angel Grove a visit.

* * *

Jason, Carri and Rocky found themselves pulling into the parking lot of the Angel Grove Youth Center. They had just gotten in from LA, and had plans on hanging around a bit before they had to help Kat and Tommy set up Kat's dance recital.

They walked in, talking and joking as they went. As they headed toward their usual table, they saw the back of a familiar female sitting there waiting for them. "Kim!" Jason exclaimed, excited to see his other "sister".

Kemora turned around and gave the rangers a smile. She was going to have to pretend to be their friends until she got some useful information. "Rocky, Jason, hey." She said as she walked over and hugged the two male rangers. When she touched them, she got her first bit of information. They were still using the Zeo Crystal. She could feel its power surging through them. That was fantastic news. Master Vile once used the crystal for evil. If she could even claim one shard of it, it would make her very powerful. She could definitely take this world's Kim and then some.

Carri crossed her arms over her chest. "Am I invisible?" she asked, a half smile on her face.

Jason rolled his eyes. "Carri you know good and well you two will spend the next two hours talking… or shopping… or doing something else stupid. At the very least she could say hello to us first."

The yellow ranger wasted no time hitting Jason. "You're a pain." She said. Just because they spend hours the last time they saw each other in Florida talking and shopping did not mean they were going to do that now.

"Like you're any better." Jason said, and in retaliation for the hit, he reached over and shoved her. It was not hard, but she did not expect it and she tumbled over.

Rocky reached out and caught his incoming girlfriend. "Hey now, play nice." He would prefer they did not play at all, but that was another story entirely.

"He started it." Carri said as she stood. She made eye contact with Jason and made a face, but could not hold it up for long as he started laughing at her. She laughed back, and it was evident that they were playing around and whatever they were doing is done now.

Kemora rolled her eyes while the rangers were too busy playing around to notice. Their little buddy-buddy act was enough to make her sick to her stomach. However, she would put up with it for now if it meant access to the Zeo Crystal. When they turned back toward her, she smiled. "Hello Carri." She said, noticing her name from when Jason said it.

"Hey Kim." She greeted as she hugged her friend.

"Come on, let's sit down." Rocky said as he gestured toward the table Kim was sitting at.

"It's great to see you in Angel Grove." Jason said as they all sat down. "Why didn't you call and tell us you were coming?" He would have loved to know. They did not come back home often, it was luck that they were here on the same weekend she was.

"I wanted it to be a surprise." Kemora said with a smile. This was going to be the best of surprises. "It's not often I get home for a visit." She did not know how true it was but she knew what life as a gymnast was like. She would be surprised if it was not.

"Yeah the last time we saw you was…" Rocky let his voice trail off. Technically the last time he saw her was not a social call, it was the incident in Sunnydale. He had no intention of bringing that up now. "Well anyway we should do something fun while you're in town."

"Shop." Carri immediately suggested.

"He said fun." Jason was quick to point out. Shopping was nowhere close to his idea of fun.

"The fair is in town." Rocky piped up before the two of them could start arguing again. Like it or not, he could see why they thought of each other as siblings. They certainly picked on each other like siblings. "We should go." He added.

"Sounds like fun." Kemora replied, although she did not mean it one bit.

With a sigh, she got up and followed the rangers out of the Youth Center. They walked down to the fair and ended up spending the rest of the day there. There was fair food, fair rides, fair games… they had a blast. At least the rangers did. Kemora was bored and ready to move this show forward.

As they walked through the fair, they could tell the sun was starting to set. Jason glanced down at his watch. "Guys we need to get out of here."

Rocky sighed and put an arm around his girlfriend. He was having a lot of fun with her; he did not want to go. However, he knew he had to. "Yeah, we don't want Kat to get mad at us."

At the mention of Kat's name, Kemora perked up, suddenly interested. Perhaps this was not going to be a waste after all. This maybe an odder ranger team than any she had seen, but Kat was here. That was good for her, bad for the little pink fluff ball.

"Being Kat's cousin, I think I know her pretty well." Carri replied. At least she knew her better than either of the boys did. "I don't think she'd get too mad if we, say, skipped." That was partially the truth. Kat would not get mad, at least not outwardly. If it was Carri, she would raise all sorts of hell and they would know they pissed her off. Kat would not say anything, she would just let it sit there and stew.

"Come on, we're not going to do that." Jason quickly replied. "Besides, it's not just Kat that's expecting us. Kat may not get mad, but Tommy might." He did not think he would go all evil green ranger over them bailing on them, but he didn't want to find out.

Carri made a face. "I know that I was just making a point." She said as she put her arm around her boyfriend's waist. She turned toward Kim and smiled. "Call me later. We can catch up. And shop." She said with a grin.

"We'll definitely get together." Kemora said, watching as the rangers took off to go find Kat. So Kat has a cousin and she is a ranger. This was better than anything she could have ever dreamed of. She was going to take Carri's crystal, then use it to take over Kim. In their Kim's body, she would kill the yellow ranger slowly while her cousin watched.

Kat was going to be devastated. Her cousin will be dead. She was going to be killing Kim at the same time, which was going to tear apart Tommy. Who also apparently had a thing for Kat as he was off helping her somewhere. Which one he was actually dating, she was not sure, but at the moment that didn't matter. It did not change her plan. She would take the poor pink ranger and torture and kill her, putting her out of her misery. All while Tommy watched. Then, to ice the cake, she would torment this Kim's body until she was ready to die, letting Tommy feel every bit of it. Once she is done she'll take off, leaving the red ranger surrounded by the bodies of the women he could not save.

This was going to be more fun than anything she has done since she started crossing dimensions. With a smile, she took off so that she could figure out the best way to start the games.

* * *

"And you would not believe how surprised we were to see Kim in the Youth Center." Carri said as she flopped down on the bed next to her cousin. It had been a long evening. She had hardly had a chance to fill Kat in. There was the set up, then the recital, and then Carri helped her cousin clean up afterwards. They were finally getting to settle in at her aunt and uncle's house and catch up.

"Kim's back in town?" Kat asked, her heart sinking. Things were going so well between her and Tommy. She did not want Kim here right now. Tommy loved her, she knew he did, and she did not want Kim to get in the middle of that. "Shouldn't she be training right now?"

Carri shrugged in response. "I don't know. I guess she got a weekend off." She did not miss the tone in Kat's voice. She was not happy to see the former pink ranger. That might interrupt her "casually dating" Tommy. That was such a load of crap. She was this close to telling her cousin that too. She was trying to bite her tongue for the sake of the team, but moments like this made it hard.

Before Kat got a chance to respond, the phone rang. Both girls jumped a bit in surprise. Kat did not move to answer it; she did not want it to be Kim. Fortunately, her cousin did want to talk and she moved quickly to pick up the receiver. "Hello?... Hey babe what's up?... Really?... Yeah that is no problem…. I'll see you soon."

"What was that about?" Kat asked, more than a little curious after listening to her cousin's end of the conversation.

"That was Rocky." Carri said as she headed toward the doorway. "He wants me to meet him at the beach as soon as I can get there. He says he needs to tell me something important." She finished with a shrug. She did not know what important was, or what it was that he could not tell her on the phone.

Kat smiled and shooed Carri away. She listened to her cousin bounce down the steps and head out the front door. She was a bit curious as to what Rocky wanted. They were only freshmen in college, but she could not help wondering if he wanted to propose. That would be so romantic. She could be her maid of honor.

Kat's good mood shifted when her eyes fell on her history book. She had a paper due Monday that she needed to get done. She was hoping she was not going to have to bring it back to Angel Grove with her. She had simply gotten too busy during the week to get a chance to finish it. If she could not get it done by tomorrow morning, she'd leave a bit earlier than she wanted to head back to her dorm.

She took a minute to mentally prepare herself before she went to work on the paper. As she was starting to get some sort of rhythm going, there was a knock on the door. Knowing that her parents were out for the night, she sighed and shut her books before exiting the bedroom. She jogged down the stairs and opened the door, and was quite surprised by her visitor.

"Rocky, what are you doing here?" she asked, a look of confusion crossing her face. "Carri left twenty minutes ago to meet you at the beach."

Rocky looked back at her like a deer caught in the headlights. "What?" he asked, more confused than Kat was. "Why would she meet me at the beach?" They had talked about hanging out, but they never made anything concrete. He had to go have dinner with his family first. His mom had been bugging him about it since the last time he was home. He told Carri he would let her know when he was free. However, he had not talked to her yet.

Kat's eyes grew round as she looked up at him in growing horror. "Didn't you call her a little while ago and tell her you wanted to meet her at the beach?" she asked in a whisper. When he shook his head no, Kat gasped, covering her mouth with her hand and her face paling.

Noticing the concerned expression on Rocky's face, she took a deep breath and went to fill him in. "About a twenty minutes ago someone called here and told Carri to meet them at the beach. They must have sounded like you because that was who she thought it was."

Rocky's own face drained of color as it dawned on him that Carri was in trouble. "That means…" his voice trailed off, as he could not follow that thought to its logical conclusion.

"That someone is going to meet Carri at the beach and it's not going to be pretty." Kat finished the sentence for him. The blue and pink rangers caught each other's eyes briefly before they both took off for his car, praying they were not too late.

* * *

Carri pulled her car into a parking spot that was close to a beach access point. As she turned the engine off, she could not help but wonder what it was that Rocky wanted to tell her. He had sounded excited on the phone, like whatever it was he could not wait to share.

She climbed out of the car and hit the door locks before slamming the door shut and heading for the beach. She waited until she hit the sand before she started looking around. She had not seen the blue ranger's car in the parking lot, but that did not mean he had not parked elsewhere. However now she was at their meeting spot and he was nowhere to be found.

"That's odd." She said aloud. She had taken longer to get over there than she should have, he should have been here by now. "Why would he call me all excited and not be here waiting?" she grumbled.

"Maybe it's because he didn't call you."

The yellow ranger immediately turned in the direction she heard the voice coming from. "Kim." She stated, somewhat surprised. This was not the Ninjetti she expected to see out here tonight. She walked over and gave her a hug, but Kim did not return it. When Kim didn't hug her back, she pulled away concerned. "What's wrong?" she asked, a little red flag going off in her head. She tried to ignore it, after all this was Kim, but something was not right here.

Kemora stared at her, her eyes filled with burning hatred. As Carri took a step back, she reached out and grabbed her arm hard enough for the yellow ranger to cry out.

"What are you doing?" Carri asked, trying unsuccessfully to remove herself from Kim's grip. "That hurts." She hissed. Kim simply gave her a cold smile in response.

"That's the point, Carri." Kemora sneered, drawing out the other girl's name. This was going to be too easy.

The little red flag jumped to the forefront of her thoughts and Carri knew that this was not good. "This isn't funny." She said trying to gauge what was going on with her friend.

Kemora looked at Carri; saw the pain in her eyes as she gripped harder. She liked that look; she wanted to see how many different ways she could get it. She tried to push that thought aside and stay focused. "It's not supposed to be." She said as she started to drag Carri painfully along the beach.

The yellow ranger was not about to be a pawn in one of Zedd and Rita's plans. Taking a deep breath, she kicked her friend in the shin. She watched as she yelped, and, surprised by the kick, let Carri go. She immediately jumped back, her eye on the former ranger as she watched her cautiously. "Whatever Rita and Zedd did, we can fix this." She assured her, hoping she was reaching through whatever spell they had placed on her.

Kemora rolled her eyes in response. "Those losers? They're the ones you are fighting? I don't think so. They can barely defeat you; much less put a decent spell over someone." She said with a laugh as she took a step forward. "What I have is more powerful than both of them combined." She thought about mentioning being a Muirantian born demon, but she had a feeling that meant nothing to her. Instead, she jumped at Carri, knocking both of them down.

Carri kicked Kim off of her and took a step backward. "I don't want to hurt you." She said as she looked at her. A smile returned on her friend's face, a smile that sent chills down the yellow rangers' spine. The smile was one of pure evil.

"It is not I who is going to be getting hurt." Kemora sneered. Carri watched in shock as the demon was enveloped in a flash of red. When the flash disappeared, Kemora was dressed in black leather pants and a red halter-top. Her hair was flowing across her shoulder and it had red streaks in it. However, the thing that chilled Carri was Kemora's eyes. They were cold red eyes that showed nothing but hatred and evil.

"You're not my Kim." Carri said aloud as the realization hit her.

"You finally figured it out. You're just as slow as the other rangers I've destroyed." Kemora said with a laugh. "No I'm not the weakling you're thinking of. Kimberly is… detained for the time being."

A slow smile spread across Carri's face. "Good. Then I don't have to worry about hurting you." She said, prepared to bring down all sorts of hell on this Kim look alike. "It's morphin time! Zeo ranger two, ye"

Before she could finish, Kemora jumped into a tornado kick, hitting Carri in the face and knocking her down. Carri's Zeo crystal materialized then went flying off, out of both of their reaches. As Kemora brought out her leg to kick Carri in the side, Carri rolled away. She stood up and got into a defensive stance, ready for anything that Kemora was going to throw at her. Kemora came at Carri again, with a series of punches and kicks. Carri blocked them all, but could not get enough time for an offensive.

Suddenly, without warning, Kemora pulled out a knife and slashed at Carri. Carri cried out as it broke the skin on her arm, deep enough to draw blood. Kemora smiled evilly as the blood dripped down her arm and onto the sand. As Carri hesitated, Kemora grabbed her by her hurt arm, causing Carri's eyes to well up with tears. Kemora pulled Carri against her chest and put the knife up to Carri's throat.

"I could kill you right now if I wanted to." Kemora said with a hiss. And she did want to, there was no doubt about that. However, she was not going to take away the joy of killing her in front of Kat. "But I won't. My plan depends on you being safe, or at least alive." She said as she glanced over at the Zeo shard sitting on the beach. It was tempting to take it, but she doubted Carri would ever willingly transfer the powers. She had another idea. She would trick the rangers into transferring the powers for her. With a smile, she took off, the yellow ranger in tow.

* * *

Minutes after Kemora disappeared from the beach, another car pulled into the parking lot and into a spot next to the yellow Mustang. "That's her car." Kat pointed out as she and Rocky jumped out of his car and headed over there.

They started to examine the car. Once they realized it had been locked, Rocky started looking elsewhere while Kat continued to see if the car held any clues. As the blue ranger glanced out across the beach, he noticed the moonlight bouncing off of something on the sand. Curious, he jogged over to check it out. As he reached it, he immediately realized what it was.

Kat heard Rocky call her name and she ran over toward him. "What is it?" she asked. He did not say anything, simply held up the piece of the Zeo Crystal that corresponded with Zeo two's powers. Her face started to pale. "That's Carri's." she said in almost a whisper.

Rocky nodded as he tried hard not to panic. The two of them headed back to the car, but before they got there, Kat stopped. Something caught her eye, something that made her heart skip a beat. "Rocky what's that?" she asked as she pointed toward the red streaks in the sand.

"It," he started, not wanting to say what he really thought it was, "its blood."

Kat looked up at him in horror. Something had happened to her cousin tonight, something bad. Without saying another word, the duo simultaneously reached for their communicators and within seconds were teleporting to the Power Chamber.

* * *

The streaks of pink and blue light that flew in to the Power Ranger's center of command caused Alpha to stir. "Aye ai ai!" he exclaimed as he pulled out of sleep mode. "Intruder alert! Intruder alert!" he said before running around.

Rocky reached out and grabbed him. "Alpha relax. It's just us."

"Rangers what are you doing here?" the little robot asked as he registered what was going on.

"It's Carri. She's missing." Kat quickly explained.

"Are you sure?" Zordon questioned. It wasn't unusual for a college student to go off and do something without filling others in. He wanted to make sure this was a real emergency before sounding the alarms.

"Positive." Rocky replied as he held up the yellow piece of the Zeo Crystal. "We found this on the beach."

"Alpha, teleport the others now." Zordon said. If somehow she had been separated from her Zeo shard, it was a ranger emergency.

Moments later, flashes of red and green light flew into the Power Chamber, dissolving into Tommy and Jason. "Zordon what's wrong?" the red ranger immediately spoke. Alpha said it was an emergency.

Alpha turned toward the pink and blue rangers. "Tell us what happened."

Kat nodded as she started their story. "A little while ago Carri got a phone call from Rocky. He told her to meet him at the beach, so she left to go find him."

"Twenty minutes later I showed up at the house. I didn't make the phone call, and we knew something was wrong." Rocky said, finding himself wishing they had done something differently. They should have gone to Zordon first, or teleported, or done something to ensure that she would still be here.

As Rocky started mentally kicking himself Kat kept the story going. "When we got to the beach, her car was there, but we couldn't find her. We did come across her piece of the Zeo Crystal." The pink ranger paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. "Near the crystal there was fresh blood in the sand."

"Dammit." Jason swore under his breath. Carri being gone did not sit well with him at all.

"Do you have any idea." Tommy started to speak, but stopped when his teammates shook their heads no.

"How are we going to find her?" Kat asked, trying hard to keep herself together. She was immediately thinking the worst, she couldn't help it.

"Without her holding the Zeo Shard, it will be hard to detect her." Zordon said as he thought about it. The pieces of the crystal were like homing beacons for the rangers. Their signatures were unique, which made them easy to detect.

"I want to know who did this." Rocky said as he glanced briefly at his other teammates. "And when I find them…" his voice trailed off. He did not know how to finish that sentence. He was a ranger, what could he really do? However, this was his girlfriend. Someone had hurt his girlfriend and he was not going to take that lightly.

Jason silently agreed with him, but they could not go down that path right now. They needed to focus on finding her. "I don't think its Zedd and Rita. It is not their style. Besides, they would have left an obvious clue or let us in on their demands by now."

Tommy nodded his head in agreement. "So if we're ruling out Zedd and Rita, who does that leave?"

"What about Gasket and Archerina?" Kat suggested. They had not heard from them in months. As far as they knew they were still alive, they could be back for revenge.

"It's possible. But I would think we would have picked up on them." Tommy replied. Surely the Power Chamber's sensors would have noticed them approaching Earth well before they got to Carri.

"So then we've ruled out Zedd and Rita, and we've pretty much ruled out Gasket and Archerina." Rocky said with a sigh as he ran down the list of possibilities. It could be Spike, but he had no reason to kidnap her. Kill her yes take her no. They made one other enemy. "What about Callisto?"

"That's a good possibility." Jason said. He did not want to admit it was her, that wasn't going to be good for Carri. However, they were going to have to look into it. "If it is her, we need to find Carri fast. She's crazy, she'll kill her."

"That's assuming she isn't already dead." Kat said in a whisper. Whoever took her had no problem drawing blood. She did not think killing would be that difficult.

Rocky shook his head no. He was not going to have any of that sort of talk. "Don't think like that."

"I can't help it." Kat replied. She did not want to, but she was going to be real with herself. "I know what she's capable of. I spent time in her army once, remember?"

Tommy walked over and put his arm around his girlfriend. "Don't worry." He said as he gave her a hug. "Everything will be fine, I promise."

"There's got to be some way to find her." Jason said as he started searching his brain for ideas. They were the Power Rangers. They had to have some other way of searching for their missing teammate. He just was not sure how. "But without her having the crystal…"

"Crystal!" Rocky exclaimed suddenly as Jason's words gave him an idea. "That's it!" he said with excitement. "The necklace she wears, the one that held the crystal's power, maybe we can scan for that. Did she have it on today?"

Kat thought for a moment. "I'm not sure." She said honestly. She would be surprised if her cousin was not wearing it. She almost never saw her without it. "Knowing Carri, I'm sure she did."

"Alpha can you find her from that?" Rocky practically pleaded with the little robot.

"I can try." Alpha replied. The crystals once held Zeo power. There was certainly a possibility that they could be used to find their missing ranger.

"What about Billy? Maybe he could help." Tommy suggested. The former blue ranger had access to more technology than they did.

"I will contact him and see if he can provide any assistance." Alpha replied. It was not a bad idea; they would take all the help they could get.

"Great, let's get started." Rocky said. They had a plan, now all they had to do was find and save his girlfriend.

* * *

Not too far off, a flash of red light shot through a deep cave. It disappeared to reveal Kemora, her knife still up at Carri's throat. Suddenly Carri moved quickly and knocked the knife away from her neck before elbowing Kemora in the stomach, causing her to stumble back. Before Kemora had a chance to recover, Carri swept her feet out from under her. With inhuman speed, the demon jumped up and kicked Carri in the chest. Carri stumbled back, but did not fall. As the two circled each other, Kemora back flipped back, her feet hitting Carri under the chin. Grabbing her fallen knife, Kemora reached into the cage next to her and grabbed a semi-conscious girl.

"Make one move and she won't live to see the end of the day." Kemora threatened. It was an empty threat, but the ranger in front of her could not possibly know that she actually needed Kim's body. She watched as Carri froze, her lips curling up to a snarl as she saw the knife that was being held up to Kim's throat. The yellow ranger was pissed off, and she was obviously tough, but the flash of fear that appeared in her eyes was enough to make Kemora smile. "Now why don't you head into that cage over there."

Carri slowly walked toward the cage, not taking her eyes off of her friend or her doppelganger. The minute she was behind the bars, Kemora pushed Kim into Carri and caused both girls to fall down. The demon slammed the door and locked it before either could make a move to get up.

"Let us out of here!" Carri demanded with a growl as she stood. She watched as Kemora simply smiled and shook her head no.

"You aren't the one giving orders." Kemora pointed out.

Carri followed the demon for a moment, watching, looking for any indication as to what was going on. After a few moments of watching, she spoke. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"Why?" Kemora said, pausing to debate whether or not to answer the question. Finally, she decided it would be more horrifying to know her fate, know the fate of her cousin, before it happened. "That's simple. When I torture you in front of the pink ranger, it is just going to destroy your cousin. Mentally anyway, but then the physical destruction won't be far behind."

None of this was making any sense to the yellow ranger. "Why do you want to hurt Kat?" she asked, instantly regretting the question as Kemora lunged toward the cage, putting her hand around Carri's throat.

"I hate Kat." She said with a hiss as her eye's met the ranger's. "Everything that happened to me was her fault." She spat, throwing her victim to the ground. She ignored the sounds of her gasping for breath as she continued. "After I left for the games, she took everything from me. My powers, my friends, she even managed to take my boyfriend. That was the worst offense you know." She paused and let out a little laugh. "No Kat deserves to live, not after that."

"But I, you went to the games on your own free will." Kim pointed out still a little groggy. She was assuming that her captor's life was similar to her own. "You gave her your powers." She neglected to mention Tommy, who she practically gave to Kat as well.

Kemora turned toward Kim, her eyes glowing red. "That didn't give her the right to take my life away from me." She said sharply as she walked toward the cage. As she approached, she could feel the power running through her necklace. She could almost feel Tommy. "There's love between you and Tommy. Just think of the possibilities without Kat. Of course, there won't be time for you to live out that particular fantasy. But don't worry; when we're done here you'll still be seeing plenty of Tommy." She said with an evil laugh.

"You'll never win." Carri said, her voice threatening as she walked closer to the bars. "The rangers will save us."

"Please." Kemora said with a roll of her eyes. "They don't even know who took you, much less where to look for you. Besides, if, say, a monster attacked Angel Grove I think they'd have to abandon the search for a while."

"Why don't you just go talk to Zedd? Maybe he'll help you out." Carri said sarcastically. Although it might be in their favor for her to go talk to Zedd, she looked just like Kim. He was not going to be too fond of her. Maybe he could keep her busy so they could find a way out of there.

Ignoring the yellow ranger, Kemora continued. "Of course if there was an attack, your team would need the yellow Zeo shard to be active. And since no one else is around to take the powers, Kim might just have to step in." She said with a smug smile. This was her plan. Put the rangers in a situation where they had to have their entire team active and force them to transfer the powers into her.

Carri's face turned white. She knew where the crystal came from, knew what it was capable of. She knew what even one piece of it falling into her hands would mean. "Zordon will realize you're evil. You won't be able to accept the Zeo powers."

"He won't realize what I am until it's too late." Inside and out she was Kimberly, unless one took a closer look. She just could not use her powers to give him an excuse to take that look.

Kim and Carri exchanged glances as Kemora closed her eyes. Suddenly a loud roar was heard as the walls around them rumbled. Kemora laughed. "I think that might have been a bit of overkill but it will do." She said referencing the monster she just created. "I probably should head downtown so I can be there to check out the damage my monster is doing. Ta-ta for now."

They watched Kemora leave in a streak of red light. Once she was gone, Carri turned toward Kim, the concern obvious on her face. "If she gets a hold of my Zeo shard, there may be no stopping her."

* * *

"Rangers," Alpha started as he walked back into the main room, "Billy is sending me something to help in the search as we speak."

"I hope he hurries." Kat said as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Suddenly the alarms went off. "There's a monster attacking downtown Angel Grove!" Alpha exclaimed in somewhat of a panic. The yellow crystal was not active. This was not good.

"We're on it." Tommy replied. There was no doubt that the monster would have to be dealt with before they focused on the search for Carri. "It's morphin time!"

"Zeo ranger one, pink!"

"Zeo ranger three, blue!"

"Zeo ranger four, green!"

"Zeo ranger five, red!"

The rangers quickly appeared on scene and were immediately greeted by the monster. "Only four rangers?" he asked, looking them over.

"It doesn't make a difference, we'll destroy you." Rocky assured him. He hoped they would quickly, that way they could help look for his girlfriend.

"We'll see about that." The monster replied with a laugh.

The four rangers reached for their Zeo weapons and attacked. It went well for a while, but then the tides changed. The monster figured them out and threw them backward one by one. As Tommy picked himself up off the ground, he glanced around at the others. It was time to pick it up a notch. "We need the Zeo Cannon, now!"

The team waited for the cannon to fall into their hands, but nothing happened. "What's going on?" Jason asked. This was not good. This had never been a problem before, unless something happened to the Power Chamber.

Tommy paused as a thought occurred to him. "The yellow crystal isn't active." He pointed out. Usually if a ranger is not there, they still have their crystal on them and an active connection to the morphing grid. However, Carri has been separated from her crystal. That must be why the cannon is not responding.

"Aw too bad. Looks like the rangers can't do any damage without their friend." The monster taunted, turning as Kemora walked on to the scene. "Poor little girl, in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Kim!" Tommy exclaimed as he followed the monster's gaze. He was glad to see her. He had a feeling something was wrong with her earlier that morning but he could not quite place it. Of course, something would be wrong if he did not act. He ran toward her and pushed her out of the way, taking the brunt of the monster's attack and hitting the ground.

The others ran to get in front of the monster as Kemora stood and went to check on Tommy. "Are you ok?" she asked, pulling as much fake concern out as she could.

"I'm fine." Tommy replied as he stood. He looked at her briefly and frowned to himself. Perhaps it had just been a long day, but there was something about her. Here she was with him and he was saving her life, protecting her, yet looking at her, he did not feel that spark. It was odd. He loved her, didn't he? Looking at her now, he didn't think so. Had he screwed this up more than he ever thought was possible? He was casually dating Kat, but was Kat the one he really loved, not Kim? He never would have thought so, but looking at Kim now, something has changed, something is different.

"Kim get out of here!" Jason yelled, pulling Tommy away from his thoughts.

Tommy was inclined to agree, but then a thought occurred to him. "Wait a second; she can use the yellow crystal." They trusted her; it was their best option to make it through this fight alive. He raised his communicator to his mouth. "Alpha, teleport the yellow crystal here."

"Right Tommy." Alpha agreed.

Seconds later, the yellow shard of the Zeo Crystal appeared in Tommy's gloved hand. "Care to join us?" he asked as he extended the crystal out to her.

Kemora smiled as she took it. Perfect. She would just have to pretend for a little while to keep the rangers off of her case, then she could do what she wanted. Leave this body and get one much more powerful. "It's morphin time! Zeo ranger two, yellow!" she called out. She could feel the power entering her body, feel it mixing with her own power as she transformed into the yellow ranger.

"Five rangers. What are you going to do now?" the monster questioned, not that worried about the situation. One of the rangers was, after all, his creator.

"Destroy you." Kemora said delightfully.

Tommy tried to ignore the words that just came from her mouth as they all ran to attack. There was something in the way she said it that pushed him away from her, another indicator that maybe he did not love her. He was confused but he tried not to dwell on it as he fought.

It did not take long before the rangers were losing again, and Tommy moved back and called for the Zeo Cannon once more. This time it fell into the rangers hands and they fired it, bringing the monster down. Once they were satisfied that Zedd was not raising him up, they teleported back to the Power Chamber.

* * *

The minute they arrived, Jason looked around and noticed one teammate missing. "Where's Kim?"

Looking at the screen, they saw her still in Angel Grove. "I'll go talk to her." Tommy volunteered. He wanted to talk to her more. He wanted to prove that this feeling was wrong, that he did still love her. He did not understand it.

He teleported back down and walked over toward her. "Why didn't you come back with us?"

"I tried." Kemora replied with a shrug. She did not have a communicator, so she tried it her way. In retrospect, that was not a good idea. Her Muirantian born powers were booted back immediately. "I couldn't."

"That's odd." Tommy said as he glanced at her, still not getting any of the feelings he usually got around Kim. "Supposedly only evil people can't teleport in."

Kemora let out a little laugh. "Well what do you know." It did not come as much of a surprise that her powers got her bounced quickly from the Power Chamber.

Tommy looked at her, quite confused. "What are you talking about?" he asked, waiting eagerly for her response.

"Thanks for the powers." Kemora said, smiling at him, a hint of her insanity showing through. "But I need to get going."

"Wait!" Tommy called out as she disappeared in a flash of red light. That was definitely not normal. "I have a bad feeling about this." He said to no one in particular as he teleported back to the Power Chamber.

* * *

As Tommy teleported into the Power Chamber, he noticed the rangers crowded around one of the consoles. He approached, and Rocky turned around in excitement. "I was right!" the blue ranger exclaimed before their leader could say anything. "We found Carri because of her necklace. We should have the exact coordinates in a couple of minutes."

He turned back toward the console, not noticing the worried expression on Tommy's face. He barely registered Kat's excited yell. "We found her!"

Tommy tried to pull himself back into the moment, and he moved forward and noticed the yellow light on the screen. He smiled to himself. At least something was going right. As the others turned away, the red ranger saw a pink light start blinking as well.

"What that?" he said, his voice full of surprise. Deep down he knew exactly what it was, and the noise he made alerted the others that there was a problem.

"Tommy what's wrong?" Kat asked. She watched as her boyfriend wordlessly pointed to the screen. "What is that?"

"It's Kim." Tommy said, taking a deep breath. "When she didn't come back to the Power Chamber, I went to talk to her."

"We know." Jason replied, the fear setting in that Carri was not the only one of his girls in trouble. "What's wrong with her?" He watched as Tommy shrugged, and was somewhat irritated with their leader's response.

Tommy made a face. "I don't know." He said gruffly. "She told me she couldn't. She just thanked me for her powers and disappeared." He continued.

Kat put a hand over her mouth, fear passing through her. "She has to be under a spell!" she exclaimed. She was somewhat relieved as that meant Kim probably was not here for a visit and would be heading back immediately, and then she mentally kicked herself for letting those thoughts pop up. Forgetting about that, she turned toward the others. "We have to get to Carri! If she's under a spell, there's no telling what she'll do to her."

"Ready guys?" Tommy asked, turning toward his teammates. They had to save Carri and figure out how to rescue Kim. Maybe that was why things were off. He hoped so. Pushing that thought aside for a moment, he prepared to lead his team into battle. "It's morphin time!"

* * *

"Look what I got Carri." Kemora taunted as she reappeared in the cave. She held up the yellow Zeo shard and watched Kim and Carri gasp in horror. "You wouldn't believe how easy it was. Guess they don't need you anymore." She said as she approached the cage. She enjoyed taunting them, but she needed to move quickly. The rangers had to be suspicious now. If she was going to absorb the yellow power and take this Kim, she could not waste any time.

"I wouldn't be so cocky if I was you. I'm going to get that back you psycho." Carri said as she glared at her through the bars.

"Now now there's no need for name calling." Kemora said with a smile. "And you're never getting this beauty back."

"Drop the crystal now!" a voice yelled from behind Kemora. She turned to see the rangers standing there. A look of disgust filled her face as she saw the red and pink rangers. She sighed. She didn't have the proper amount of time now to take this Kim first. She was going to have to take care of the rangers. This was not going the way she wanted, but she was still going to have a bit of fun.

As the rangers continued to look at her, trying to be as threatening as possible, she laughed. "You think I would give up a power like this? Guess again." She watched as the rangers took a cautious step forward. "Careful rangers don't test me. I will hurt her if I have to. Well even if I don't, but that's beside the point."

"Kim we can help you. If you just"

"Kim?" Kemora questioned, cutting off the pathetic Tommy's desperate pleas. "Do you think she could pull off something like this? Do you think she has enough power?" she questioned.

The rangers watched as Kemora stepped away from the cage, revealing Kimberly trapped behind the bars alongside Carri. Tommy's heart skipped a beat as he immediately felt a sense of relief. He was not attracted to this other woman because she was evil and she was not his Kim. Seeing his Kim here now, his heart reached out toward her. Despite what had happened between them in the past, he loved her with every fiber in his being and he knew it. "Kim!" he exclaimed, unable to help himself from calling out to her. If it was not serious before, it was serious now. He had to rescue Kim.

"If that's Kim then who are you?" Kat said as she glared at the other woman who looked just like their friend.

"I," Kemora paused as an evil smile passed her lips, "am your worst nightmare." With that, she lunged at the rangers, knocking them all down with a tornado kick. As they stood, they found themselves surrounded by putties. These were not Zedd and Rita's putties though they were different. They were red instead of grey, with their fingers being red claws.

"This is going to be tough guys!" Kat yelled out. As the putties attacked each of the rangers, Kemora saw her chance. Jumping into the group, she knocked all of the putties away from Kat and faced her. As the two circled each other, Kat looked at her with a calm disposition from behind her helmet.

Kemora could feel the calmness in her opponent. "You seem so calm, Kittie." she taunted, surprised by the appearance of the pink Zeo ranger. She supposed it had not settled in yet that she was going to die today.

Kat looked at her, trying to keep her fear hidden. "I'm not afraid of you." Kat whispered, more to herself than to Kemora. Kemora glared at her, an evil smile crossing her face.

"Well, little kitty-cat, you should be!" With that, Kemora kicked Kat in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her. Kat quickly got up and defended everything that Kemora threw at her. Suddenly, to Kat's surprise, Kemora did a back flip, hitting Kat right under her chin. Kat's neck snapped back and she fell to the ground, powering down. As Kemora neared the fallen girl, she shook her head sadly.

"I thought it would be harder to take you down. Guess I was wrong." Kemora pulled out her knife and advanced on Kat. Meanwhile, on the other side of the cave, Tommy turned towards Kat, only to see her on the ground. Time seemed to go in slow motion as he pushed the putties aside and leapt over them. With a burst of adrenaline, he charged into Kemora, knocking her down. None of them noticed the yellow Zeo chard that skipped across the ground, out of everyone's reach. Kemora looked at Tommy, hatred burning in her eyes. She grabbed his neck and lifted him in the air. Her hand gripped tighter around his neck as he struggled to get free.

"This is the end for you, Oliver. You might have been able to kill me once, but this time I will have the honor!"

"You'll...never...win," Tommy choked out. Kemora glared at him, a mocking smile on her face.

"I already did," she whispered. She was going to destroy Tommy and Kat, then dispose of Rocky and Jason too. All while Kim and Carri watched. Then she would take over Kim, and have the pleasure of killing Carri in her new body. It was not according to plan, but she still liked it.

"Wrong." Kemora barely had any time to act as she got hit in the side with an energy blast. Both Tommy and Kemora fell to the ground. As Kemora struggled to get up, the rangers surrounded her, power blasters out. Kemora glared up at them.

"This isn't over, rangers!" Kemora hissed as she stood up.

"Actually, it is." The rangers turned around, and with no time to register what was happening, energy bolt after energy bolt was fired.

Kemora screamed in pain as they hit her dead on. Her weak human body could not handle this sort of attack and she knew this shell was giving out on her. She fell to the ground and looked up at the person shooting at her, her vision beginning to blur.

"Bi-" she started but that was all she could get out before she separated from her body and disappeared.

The rangers looked at Carri and Kim in surprise, both of them having blasters in their hand. "Kim!" Tommy exclaimed, relieved that she was all right, as he went and put his arms around her.

Kim melted into his embrace as Kat glared at both of them. She could not help it. She was happy Kim got rescued, but at the same time she was fawning all over her boyfriend. "What are we going to do about her?" Carri asked, her voice pulling Kat away from her own thoughts. She turned toward her cousin, who was firmly in the arms of the blue ranger, and noticed her gesturing toward the dead body of a Kim look alike.

"We should take her back to Zordon. He'll know what to do." Tommy said, not looking away from his Kimberly as he continued to keep an arm on her. She was with him again and he was thrilled. He knew he was supposed to be with Kat, but he could not help the emotions that surfaced when they were together.

"We should probably get Kim home too." Kat quickly pointed out. She wanted her gone and back to training as soon as possible.

Kim nodded in agreement. She did not want to leave Tommy but she had to. "You're right. My coach is probably worried sick."

As the rangers got ready to teleport, Carri hit herself on the forehead. Running over to the opposite side of the cave, she picked up the yellow Zeo shard. "I can't forget this, now can I?" she said with a grin as she rejoined the others and the group teleported off.

* * *

Kemora found herself spiraling through dimensions out of her control. She was out of control because the rangers managed to kill her body, something she did not think could ever happen. Finally, her spirit settled in another universe.

She was immediately drawn to that world's Kimberly, and although she was not really sure where she was, she did find Kim. Her spirit came up from behind her and with one swoop she pushed her way in. This Kim was easy. She was strong, but she certainly did not have the ability to block her like the last Kimberly did.

As she pulled herself into this body, she heard someone call her name several times. Finally, she looked over at the man trying to get her attention. "What?" she asked as she smiled over at Jason.

"I was just asking if you were ready." He said with a sigh. He did not have a clue where her mind had wondered off to. However, with Kim, he never did.

She glanced around, trying to get a good feel for the situation. Jason was wearing a scuba suit. She looked down at herself and realized she was in scuba gear as well. They were out on a small boat, about ready to dive in.

She knew this point in the timeline very well. This was when she was captured by Divatox and taken to Maligore's pit. This was when she was given all her powers. She could certainly go for another dip in the pit. That would restore her to full powers and it would give this shell she was in a lifespan of ten thousand years. No more jumping bodies.

"I'm ready." She replied as a smile crossed her face.

Jason glanced at her. She was rather silent for someone who had been excited about their scuba diving adventure earlier. "You're not scared are you?" he asked in a teasing fashion.

"Of course not." She replied as she glanced over at him. "What's the worst that could happen?" she glanced back toward the water, her eyes briefly flashing red as she smiled evilly. Finally, something was going to go her way today.

* * *

After getting some much-needed sleep, Carri awoke the next day and got dressed before heading downstairs. She planned on relaxing in Angel Grove for a little bit before making the trek back up to USC. As she hit the bottom stair, she noticed her cousin sitting on the couch.

"Hey." She said, walking over and sitting down next to her.

"Hey." Kat replied, flashing her cousin a smile. She was glad to see her up and going this morning. "How are you?"

"Good." Carri said with a shrug. She did not know why she would be any other way.

"Everything is ok from last night?" Kat questioned. Carri had not really talked much about what happened on the beach or her capture afterwards. She left the Power Chamber with Rocky to retrieve her car then headed home, walking in the door and going straight for the bedroom. She was concerned. She had to imagine it had been hard; she wanted to make sure she was doing well.

"Last night was no big deal." Carri replied. She had already gone through this with Rocky; she did not want to go through it again. She fought Kemora. The bitch was stronger than she was, but she held her own pretty well. Then she sat in the cage until the rangers got there. "Kim and I hung out in a cage most of the night trying to figure out how to kick her ass and get out of there."

"Oh. So you just hung out with Kim." Kat said. She could not help the resentment in her voice.

Carri rolled her eyes. "Yeah. We hung out. In the cage we were trapped in."

"That's nice." Kat said absentmindedly. She was reminded of the rescue, and of Tommy's obvious attraction toward the former ranger. "It sucks that Kim got kidnapped from Florida. I am glad we got her home safely. I wouldn't want anything to happen to Kim, even though it kind of irritates me the way she hits on my boyfriend."

Carri glared at her cousin, unable to believe the words that were coming out of her mouth. This was ridiculous. Kat was in her own little fantasy word when it came to Tommy and Kim's relationship. She did not care if it was for the good of the team. Kat was her cousin and she loved her and she would be damned if she would let her continue like this.

"Grow a backbone already." She said sharply as she glared over at her cousin.

"What?" Kat questioned, shocked by the words coming out of the yellow ranger's mouth.

"You heard me." Carri said as she made a face. This was not going to be easy but Kat needed to hear it. "You're all about Kim ruining your relationship but she's not. The entire team knows that Tommy's in love with her, as evident by last night. He is casually dating you Kat – that's bullshit. You're better than that and you know it."

Tears formed in Kat's eyes as she looked over at the woman who was supposed to be her friend. "How could you say that? Tommy loves me."

"I truly think he does. Which is why his boy brain thinks that this is the best way of fixing the situation. It doesn't matter how much he loves you though, he loves Kim more, and you aren't going to magically change that by letting him drag you along." Carri pointed out. Perhaps it was harsh but it was the truth.

"Stop it!" Kat exclaimed as tears started to fall.

Carri felt bad about making her cry, but she needed to accept the truth. "No matter how long you wait or what you do, Tommy is going to end up with Kim. You are too good to be anyone's second fiddle. You need to break up with him and move on."

"No!" Kat exclaimed, ignoring the falling tears. "I don't know why you would say these things. Tommy and I love each other. You are my cousin you should support me. Not try to get me to leave Tommy so he can be with your new friend Kim."

"Seriously?" Carri asked, throwing her arms up in the air. She could not believe she pulled her friendship with Kim into this. "That's crap Kat and you know it. I do support you. That's why I think you'd be better off with someone whose heart isn't elsewhere."

"I'm not listening to this." Kat said as she crossed her arms over her chest and turned the other way.

"Fine." Carri said as she stood. "If you can't get it through your thick skull that Tommy will never love you the way you want him to, fine. Just keep casually dating him until he finally leaves your ass on the side of the road for Kim. Just remember, I tried to warn you." She said as she headed toward the door and picked her keys up off the table. She hated storming out, but Kat was not going to listen to her and this discussion was going nowhere fast. It needed to be said and she said it. "I'll see you back in LA." She said with a huff as she exited, slamming the door behind herself.

* * *

Kemora found herself at the pit with Jason. He was struggling, just like she knew he would. She was ecstatic. She was going to get back into the pit. She was about to get her full power back. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, waiting for the sweet moment when she reconnected with the source of her powers.

She could feel it coming closer. Feel her time in the pit nearing. She was absorbing all the sounds around her, all the screams of the rangers. She thought it was about to happen when, without warning, an arm locked around her waist, pulling her sharply backward.

"I've got you Kim." Tommy assured her as he raced to the opening of the cave, the rest of the rangers and Jason not far behind him.

Kemora's eyes flew open as she saw herself getting farther and farther away from the pit. "No." she said in a whisper as she realized what was happening.

They moved quickly away, through the opening. The outside world came into view and she tried to pull herself away from the red ranger. "We're clear!" she heard Tommy yell as he pulled her quickly and threw her to the ground, covering her with his body.

A loud rumble filled the air and seconds later Tommy stood, pulling Kemora up with him. She looked back at the cave that held Maligore's pit. There was no entrance there, nothing left of the pit that was held within. They had collapsed the cave, sealing off any hope of her going for a dip in the pit.

"Are you alright?" Tommy asked as he put his arms on her shoulders, looking into her eyes.

"Dammit Tommy!" she exclaimed. "You idiot! You had to ruin everything!" she yelled as she pushed him away from her.

"What are you talking about Kim?" he asked, rather confused and concerned. Had something happened when she was with Divatox that he did not know about? Jason seemed fine; he thought Kim was as well.

"I'm talking about my return to the pit, my return to full power… but noooo, you had to interfere didn't you." She said, letting out a frustrated noise as she glanced around and saw the Turbo team and Jason all staring at her. "Turbo." She stated, an evil smile crossing her lips.

She had not gotten her way; she was not able to get back to the pit that spawned her, the pit that gave her the powers she loved so dearly. However, the plus side was that she was standing on the island with the Turbo freaks, the one team in the universe's she hated more than any other. This body was still going fairly strong. It was time to have a little bit of fun before she went to another world to see if she could increase her powers.

"Maybe this isn't so terrible after all." She said with a laugh. Reaching deep inside herself to summon her powers, she turned toward the Turbo team and the destruction began, her failure in the last world forgotten.


	17. Two Loves

**Disclaimer:** The rangers still belong to Saban. All non PR characters are mine and cannot be used without my permission.  
**Author's Notes:** Sorry it took so long to get a new chapter up. Real life has been running wild lately so I have been behind. Hopefully the next Dark Inheritance chapter won't be too far behind.

Ranger Scrolls  
"Two Loves"

A young couple stood in an empty classroom on the University of Southern California campus. The woman looked at her now ex-boyfriend and sighed. "I guess we both saw this coming." Mollie Monroe said.

Chris Black glanced away from her and frowned. "I suppose. We haven't been the same for… well for a while now." He said as he thought about it. In high school, things were great but lately… well lately, things between them had changed.

"So then this is goodbye." Mollie said softly. It was hard for her to do. She still cared about him; she simply could not be with him anymore. She needed him to be more than the immature high school boy he was, but he was not ready to grow up.

Chris turned back to look at her. "Yes, I guess it is." He leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek before quietly slipping out of the room and heading for the building's exit.

"I guess we weren't meant to be in the first place." Chris said as he walked through the grass in front of the college. The more Chris reflected on their relationship the more he realized how right he was. Sure, it was fun while they were in high school, running around recklessly and causing trouble. Chris laughed. He was still reckless. He went out last Saturday night, on Halloween his favorite holiday, and had some old fashioned fun. Mollie did not come, she was afraid he was going to be arrested. Fortunately he didn't, and he had a blast running around as he did in high school.

Chris sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. Well his braids. He had it done a while back. Much to Mollie's surprise, he found that they actually turned out nice. He usually wore them pulled back in a rubber band or something similar. He was not sure how long he would keep them in, but they were fun for the moment. Chris looked up at the sky. It was a beautiful day. "I wonder if..." Chris stopped as he ran into someone. The papers she was looking at went flying all over the place.

"I'm sorry!" Chris immediately exclaimed as he bent down to help her gather her papers. "Let me get this for you." He said, picking them up and piling them as neatly as he could before handing them back to her to put in her notebook.

"Thank you." She said as she stood back up.

What immediately struck Chris was this woman's Australian accent. He found it to be hot, which matched the rest of her perfectly. "Chris Black." He said, introducing himself as he stuck out his hand.

She took it and smiled at him. "Katherine Hillard." She said, giving his hand a quick shake. "But my friends call me Kat."

As their hands dropped to their sides, Chris worked on what to say next. "So, do you go to school here?"

"Yes." Kat said with a smile. "I'm a freshman."

"Me too." Chris replied. "I can't believe I haven't seen you around before."

Kat let out a soft chuckle. "Well it is a big campus." She only knew a handful of freshmen. Those who went to Angel Grove and those she met in her dorm or in classes.

"Too big." Chris pointed out. "I should have seen you around before." It was disappointing to know that she had been here with him for almost three months and he had not seen her.

The pink ranger smiled at him. "Well we're seeing each other now aren't we?"

"Yeah I suppose we are." Chris said, smiling back at her. "How about I walk you to, well, wherever it was you were headed?" He was hoping she would say yes. He would hate to meet a pretty girl and have her bail on him this quickly.

"I was headed to my cousin's dorm to study." Kat replied as she held up the notebook and book she was carrying in her hands.

"Then let's head to your cousin's dorm." Chris said. He watched as Kat nodded and started walking and he eagerly fell in step beside her.

* * *

Kat found herself laughing as she approached her cousin's dorm room. "You can't be serious!" she exclaimed, referring to Chris's previous comment.

"Oh but I am." He said as he smiled mischievously at her.

After taking a moment to calm down, the pink ranger gestured toward the door. "This is my stop."

"That's too bad." Chris said with a frown. He really liked Kat, and he was enjoying this little bit of time he got to spend getting to know her. "I have an idea." He said as his frown turned into a smile. "Why don't we go to the movies tomorrow night?"

It was Kat's turn to frown. She had a boyfriend; she could not be running around with another guy. "Oh…" she said, trying to think of the best way to tell him about Tommy.

"We'd go as friends." Chris assured her. He wanted more than that, but she did not seem comfortable jumping into a date and he did not want to push it.

"Sure." Kat finally said after a quick internal debate. "It sounds like fun." Friends was harmless, right?

"Great. I'll meet you outside the movies around seven." Chris said before giving her a quick goodbye and walking off.

Kat smiled as she turned and knocked on the door. It swung open and she beamed at the girl standing there. "Hey."

"Hey." Carri replied raising an eyebrow as Kat sauntered in with a huge grin on her face. "Where were you?" she said before quickly going to answer her own question. "With Tommy." Kat never glowed like that unless it was about Tommy, the man who was painfully obviously in love with another woman.

"No, actually I wasn't with Tommy." Kat said, wondering for a moment what to say to Carri or if she should say anything at all.

"Oh?" Carri asked, her curiosity getting the best of her. "So then what gives?"

"Do you know Chris Black?" Kat asked, finally deciding that she had to talk to someone, why not her cousin.

"I've met him before. He was dating Mollie Monroe, a friend from history. He came by after class one day and she introduced me. Why do you want to." Carri stopped short and crossed her arms over her chest. "Wait, were you with Chris?"

"Well… yeah." Kat admitted softly as she let out a sigh. "He's nice, cute, funny…" she let her voice trail off a smile spread across her face.

"Rewind here." Carri asked, briefly wondering if this was the same Chris, she had heard about, the one that Mollie had been talking about breaking up with. She wanted to leave him because of his bad traits, which would not go away. "First off, have you seen Chris's hair? Dreads? Seriously? And is he even your type? Besides, what about Tommy, you know, your boyfriend."

"First off, I think his hair is cute. And who's to say what my type is? Besides sweet, charming and funny like Chris." Kat said, in a somewhat dreamy voice. When she noticed the look her cousin was giving her, she continued. "Besides let's not forget, you're the one who told me to grow a backbone about the Tommy situation."

Carri threw her hands up in frustration. "I meant break up with Tommy, not sneak around with a new boyfriend behind his back." If this was what Kat got out of the talk, it made her wonder if her cousin was hopeless.

"I'm not sneaking around behind Tommy's back." Kat said, appalled by the suggestion. "We're not doing anything. We're just going to the movies tomorrow night."

"You're serious?" Carri asked, wondering which part of that equation she should ream Kat about first. When Kat nodded, she decided to start by pointing out the obvious. "Remember; group outing tomorrow night, the ranger team and Emily, bowling?"

"Right." Kat said, coming to the sudden realization that she had double booked herself. Group outings they did all the time. She really wanted to go out with Chris. He was her new friend, her new cute friend, and she needed more friends. "Lie for me." Kat said, logic flying out the window.

"Kat!" Carri exclaimed, surprised by the totally out of character statement coming from her cousin's mouth. Not that she would not do it for her, but she was somewhat floored that she asked. Kat was a good person, she was not thinking straight. "So you want me to lie to your current boyfriend so you can go out with your new boyfriend instead of hanging out with us?"

"He's not my boyfriend!" Kat spoke quickly, trying to squash that thought before Carri kept running with it. "We're just going as friends."

Carri looked at her like the most absurd thing she had ever heard. "Friends?" she repeated. This coming after Kat talked about how wonderful Chris was. "I don't buy it."

Kat turned toward her cousin, somewhat hurt by the implication. "You and Jason go places as just friends." She quickly pointed out. What double standard did Carri live by that she could hang out with a guy as friends but nobody else could?

The yellow ranger snorted in response. Was she really going to compare her fawning over Chris to the relationship she had with Jason? "That's different." She was quick to point out. Kat looked at her as if she was crazy and she continued. "Jason is like my brother, it has always been that way. And I've certainly never talked about how cute he was or how I wanted to date him."

"Carri please." Kat begged. She understood her point, but she really wanted to go to the movies. If Carri wasn't on board she wouldn't be able to go. "Just tell everyone I'm dancing or something."

Carri made a face. She was not sure what to answer. On one hand, Tommy was her friend and she did not want to lie to him. Even if Kat swore it was platonic, it was obvious she was interested. On the other, if this was Kat's way of growing a backbone, maybe she would have to let her go with it. If something developed between Chris and Kat, it would at least get Kat off of Tommy. He would be hurt for a while, but she was certain Kim would be right there to pick up the pieces.

"Fine." She finally spoke. "I'll come up with something."

Kat smiled as she reached over and gave her cousin a hug. "Thank you so much. I owe you one." Kat said, not hearing the "no shit" Carri muttered under her breath. "Now let's get down to studying."

"Only if we have to." Carri said as she reached over and grabbed her notes, briefly wondering if she was doing the right thing before she turned all her attention toward her upcoming test.

* * *

The next afternoon the girls found themselves heading across campus to meet up with the rest of their team. "Hey guys!" Carri called out, getting their attention as they approached.

A chorus of hellos greeted her as the guys walked over toward them. "So how did the test go?" Tommy asked as he walked over and put an arm around his girlfriend's shoulders.

"I think it went pretty well." Kat replied, leaning in to give him a quick kiss. She felt somewhat guilty with the gesture, but she quickly tried to shake that off.

Although the question wasn't really directed toward her, Carri shrugged her shoulders to answer it. "I think I did well. But we'll see."

"I'm sure you did fine." Rocky said as he walked over toward her and put an arm around his girlfriend as well. "After all, you guys studied practically all night." He had tried to call Carri once the previous night around eleven and she was still looking at the information for her test.

"Now that it's Friday and you don't have to spend your night locked away studying, let's go have some fun." Jason suggested as he glanced from one couple to the other.

"Fun?" Carri repeated, grinning wickedly. "I'm all about going to have some fun."

"We haven't been bowling in forever. I'm sure it will be a blast." Tommy said as he looked down at Kat and smiled. He was looking forward to a nice, quiet evening with his friends. Hopefully Rita and Zedd would cooperate.

"Absolutely." Kat replied, knowing good and well that she did not intend to be there.

"Let's go get something to eat." Jason suggested, not wanting to stand out there in the middle of campus until they were supposed to go bowling.

"Sounds good to me." Rocky said, ignoring the chuckle from his girlfriend. She teased him about always being one of the first to jump up for food.

The other three members of the group quickly agreed, and Jason led them off to the restaurant he had in mind.

* * *

A little while later, the group found themselves heading into Rocky and Tommy's dorm room. As Jason sat on the edge of one of the twin beds, he glanced over at the alarm clock. "It's six already?" he questioned.

"Six?" Kat repeated, thinking about how she needed to get going. "I need to leave if I'm going to freshen up for later."

Tommy chuckled softly. "You look great." He assured her.

"Thank you." Kat replied, trying not to blush. No matter what, she still loved a complement from Tommy. "But I am in a skirt and I don't want to go bowling in a skirt."

"I have to go too if I'm going to pick up Emily." Jason replied. He wanted to try to sneak in a little alone time with her before the group date but he had to wait until she got off of work.

"So then maybe we should just call the party quits for now?" Carri suggested. She owed her parents a return phone call, and if everybody was taking off now would be a good time to make it.

"You leaving too?" Rocky questioned with a slight pout. He was hoping his girlfriend would stick around. He was actually kind of hoping they could get the room to themselves for a little while, but it did not look like Tommy was going anywhere.

"Yeah. I have something I need to do." Carri said, declining to elaborate further.

"In that case I guess we'll all just meet back up at the bowling alley." Tommy replied. If everybody was going to leave, he would not mind using the time to get a jump-start on something that was due Monday.

"Sounds good." Carri said, giving her boyfriend a kiss before she stood. "See you guys then." She addressed everyone, giving the room a wave before taking off.

Tommy gave Kat a kiss as she stood, then the pink ranger said goodbye to everyone. She headed out of her boyfriend's dorm and found herself practically skipping down the hallway. She tried to calm down as she exited the building and headed toward her dorm.

She walked across campus quickly, her mind filled with thoughts of both Tommy and Chris. Finally, she made it to her building, and she walked in and headed upstairs. She made her way to her room and unlocked it, peeking in to find it empty. She could not help but be relieved. If her roommate Crystal were there, she would never let her hear the end of it if she got wind of what was going on.

After she shut the door, she headed over toward her closet and opened it, then began the search for something to wear. "So much pink!" she exclaimed out loud as she glanced through her wardrobe. She had not really thought about it before, but practically everything she owned was pink. "He'll just have to get used to it."

She stopped for a moment, thinking about the comment she just made out loud. Was he going to be around long enough to get used to it? What kind of relationship did she want with Chris? After all, she was still with Tommy, the man who still made her heart flutter with his smile. But he was also a man who was also in love with someone else.

She found herself attracted to Chris in many different ways. He was different from Tommy, but that was not necessarily a bad thing. Only time would tell what was going to happen. For now though, she would go to the movies with Chris, but only as friends.

Somewhat satisfied with her decision, Kat headed off to take a shower so that she could get ready for the movies with her new friend Chris.

* * *

The rest of the gang arrived at the bowling alley later that night. As everyone sat down and got their shoes on, there was one obvious person missing. "Where's Kat?" Tommy asked when it was evident she was nowhere to be found.

"Didn't she call you?" Carri asked as innocently as possible. When Tommy shook his head no, she continued. "I thought she was… or maybe I was supposed to tell everyone."

"Tell us what?" Rocky asked, glancing over at her and raising an eyebrow.

"When she got back her dance studio called. One of her students got selected to go for an audition for something tomorrow and they begged Kat to help. She felt bad she couldn't come out tonight but she couldn't say no to her student." Carri replied, making a mental note to tell Kat her story later. She was somewhat grateful that between the few acting lessons and watching her parents, she was pretty good at lying.

Tommy sighed. "I'm happy for her student. But it's too bad she couldn't be here." He was really looking forward to seeing his girlfriend that night.

"We'll just have to go out again another weekend to make up for it." Emily said with a smile. They would definitely reschedule, although she did not know when. Sometimes with her schedule, weekends could get hectic.

"Come on guys." Jason said as he finished tying his shoelaces and went to put names in. "Let's get started."

* * *

Mollie joined three of her friends that night for a girl's night out. It was much needed, especially after breaking up with Chris that week. They were just coming from shopping and heading to a movie.

She found herself listening to her best friend, Nikkie Strong, as they walked along the sidewalk. She laughed at something she said and glanced up. As she did, she noticed a couple entering the ice cream shop across the street and she stopped suddenly.

"What's wrong?" Nikkie asked. Her gaze then followed that of her friend and she saw Chris entering the ice cream shop with a tall blonde-haired woman. "I thought you and Chris were done?"

"We are." Mollie spoke quickly. There was no question they were done, and she would not have it any other way. Still there were other thoughts bouncing through her head. "It's just hard to see him with someone else. And so soon."

"You're the one who has been pointing out for the last few weeks that it was all but over between the two of you." Her other friend, Grace Rogers pointed out.

"I did. But." Mollie stopped short.

"But what?" Nikkie asked, encouraging her to continue.

Mollie glanced over at the girl with Chris. She saw him whisper something to her while they stood in line, and watched her laugh at whatever it was that he said. "We are over. However, we used to have something. Now he's with her." It did not matter how over they were, she had been with him for a long time. She could not help but feel jealous toward the other woman.

"Come on." Nikkie said, grabbing Mollie's arm and tugging her away. "The movie starts in fifteen minutes."

"Yeah, ok." Mollie said as she allowed herself to get dragged off, but not before glancing back at the ice cream shop one last time.

* * *

"Now there's something we could use to our advantage." Zedd said as he stepped back from spying on Kat.

"What?" Rita asked as she walked up to her husband. She had been letting him do most of the spying lately. Those rangers kept giving her a headache.

"Looks like the pink ranger has a new enemy." Zedd said with a laugh. There was definitely jealousy there, which was something he could use to his advantage.

"So?" Rita said. She had an idea where he was going, but she wanted to hear him say it.

"Let's get her to kill Kat!" Rito exclaimed, thinking it was the most brilliant plan ever.

"And how would you go about doing that?" Zedd questioned. He did not know why he was indulging his brother-in-law, who had proven on multiple occasions that he was an idiot.

"Well I believe if you just give her a sword"

"Silence!" Zedd exclaimed, deciding he had already heard enough. Rito was still an idiot, although he supposed he had not needed him to actually open his mouth and confirm that. "We're going to make this girl Mollie into a monster. Then we'll have her kidnap Kat's new love interest. The rangers will do anything to make sure a human life isn't harmed. And we can use this human against the pink ranger."

"We can con Kat into becoming evil and working for us again!" Rita exclaimed. It had almost worked the first time. She had been so smitten with Tommy; she could have gotten her to do almost anything. She thought she was still smitten with Tommy, but apparently, that was not the case.

Zedd laughed. "Yes, once we have the pink Zeo ranger on our side, the possibilities are endless."

"What kind of monster are we going to make the girl into?" Goldar asked. He liked the idea; he was hoping this one would work.

Zedd thought for a moment. There were so many good possibilities. "Finster!" he called out, watching as Rita's loyal minion scurried in. "Find me a good monster to turn a jealous human into."

"Yes my lord, right away." Finster said, before turning and taking back off.

"Tomorrow we put our plan into action!" Lord Zedd exclaimed with a laugh.

Rita let out a laugh of her own. "Poor kitty is going to regret switching sides on me." She was excited. Finally, they had a plan she could really get behind.

* * *

Kat sat across from Chris at a table. She had a milkshake and he was working on an ice cream cone. She smiled at him as he bit a chunk of cone off. "I had a lot of fun tonight."

"Me too." Chris replied as he grinned at her. "Maybe we can do it again sometime." And maybe it would officially blossom into a relationship.

"I'd like that." Kat said. She could keep hanging out as just friends. However, she wanted more. She could not help the sigh that escaped her lips.

"What's wrong?" Chris asked, not missing the sigh.

"Wrong?" Kat repeated. "Nothing's wrong." She quickly assured him, although that wasn't really the truth. Carri was right about more than she would admit to her cousin. She was blowing Tommy off to be with another man she had interest in. She used to want to be with Tommy more than anything. Now she didn't know. Sitting here with Chris made her forget about Tommy. There was so much she needed to sort out.

Chris took one last bite of his cone before he stood. "Come on, let's get out of here." He said with a smile.

She let him take her by the hand and lead her out of the ice cream shop, all the while feeling horribly guilty about it. She tried not to think about it as Chris asked her what she wanted to do now. She glanced down at the time. It was really too late to do anything else. "I really need to get back to the dorm. I have a class to teach at eight tomorrow morning."

"To the dorm it is then." Chris said, pausing briefly before asking a question. "What kind of class do you teach?" he asked as he glanced over at her.

"Dance. At the Angel Grove Youth Center." She replied.

Chris raised an eyebrow. "Never heard of the place. Where is it?"

"It's about a half an hour from here." Kat replied. It was not a bad drive. That was assuming you didn't get stuck in traffic. "I usually leave around seven to make sure I get there on time." She continued.

"Maybe I should go check it out." Chris replied. She had a nice body, he'd love to watch her teaching dance.

"No!" Kat exclaimed, more panicky than she intended. Rocky, Tommy and Jason were usually there on Saturday mornings. Chris could not come. "I mean, the kids don't like people to watch them practice. They get too nervous." She said, trying to calm herself down.

"So then they're closed practices?" Chris asked, finding it odd how protective she quickly got about her students.

"Most of the time." Kat replied with a smile.

"That's ok. Maybe whenever they are letting visitors watch I can come down." Chris suggested.

"I'd like that." Kat replied. Of course, she would have to break up with Tommy first. Assuming that was what she really wanted to do. She was still finding herself conflicted over the whole thing.

"So what are you up to tomorrow night?" Chris asked, hoping she would go out with him again.

"Tomorrow night?" Kat questioned as she thought about it. She had plans with Tommy for Saturday night. She supposed she could break them, but she did not want to do that two nights in a row. Besides, it may be a good time to talk about things. "I have plans tomorrow night." She said, noticing Chris's expression immediately drop. "But I'm free the night after that."

His frown turned into a smile. "Great. So we'll do something Sunday night."

"What would you like to do?" Kat asked, curious as to where he would take her next.

Chris grinned at her. "It will be a surprise." Although he had no idea what they could do. He had time to think of something though.

"Alright." Kat replied as they continued heading in the direction of her dorm. Eventually they made it back to her building, stopping to say their goodbyes.

"I'm glad we went out tonight." Chris said with a smile.

"Me too." Kat replied. Even though she made a mess of everything, she was glad. "I had fun."

The two of them stared at each other for a moment, and then Chris leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Goodnight." He said before turning and walking off.

Kat was practically floating as she headed up toward her room. She opened her door, her mind racing. Chris had kissed her. Sure, it was just a peck on the cheek, but it was nice. Before she could process that further, Crystal Burgess, her roommate, walked in from the shower.

"So what did you and Tommy do this time?" Crystal asked. Anytime Kat came home this happy, she had been out with her boyfriend.

"What?" Kat asked, snapping back into reality. "Oh nothing."

"Nothing?" Crystal questioned, raising an eyebrow. "Then who are you cheating on Tommy with that has you this happy?" she asked, half joking half-serious.

"I'm not cheating on Tommy." Kat assured her. This was not cheating, was it? They just went out as friends. However, friends do not end the night with a kiss. "I have a class to teach in the morning so I had better get some sleep." She said, trying to quickly derail the conversation.

"Fine. But I still want to know what happened tonight." Crystal said, grinning at her. She was not going to let this go that easily.

"Of course." Kat promised, giving her a fake smile as she went to grab her pj's. She was not quite sure what was going to happen next. She was torn between Tommy and Chris. She still loved Tommy, but Chris… just the thought of him brought a smile to her face. Maybe she should break up with Tommy. Maybe they were never meant to be after all.

* * *

The next morning, Finster headed into the throne room and approached Zedd with his newest idea. "My lord, I believe I have a monster that will be worthy of your plan."

"What is it?" Zedd asked, trying to ignore asking him what took so long. Finster had been doing this for centuries; he should have come up with something quickly.

"A green-eyed dragon." He informed him. Green-eyed dragons were perfect monsters to feed from human jealousy.

Zedd looked at him curiously. "Green-eyed dragon?" he repeated.

"Yes." Finster said with a nod. When Zedd still did not look satisfied, he continued. "A green-eyed dragon brings all of a human's jealousies to the surface. She may not remember why she dislikes the pink ranger so much, but she will want to destroy her."

"Well then, a green-eyed dragon it is." Zedd said Finster's answer satisfactory enough for him. He walked over toward the balcony and began scanning the surface for Mollie. Eventually he found her, walking on campus alone. He picked his staff up and pointed it at her, zapping her and turning her into his latest creation.

Mollie's body morphed into a dragon shape, and her eyes became a bright green. Once the transformation was complete, she looked directly at her new master. "I am Dragoneyes, and I am here to serve you Lord Zedd."

"Excellent." Zedd murmured to himself. "Go and capture the new love interest of the pink ranger."

"It would be my pleasure." Dragoneyes assured him. Then she turned and walked off, ignoring the screams of the innocent people she was scaring. She headed straight for Chris's favorite hangout, where she found him with his friends. "You're coming with me!" she said as she pointed a scaly finger at him.

"Uh…." Chris stuttered as he tried to shift backwards. "I don't think so." He said as his friends immediately abandoned him.

"What's a matter?" Dragoneyes said, smiling wickedly at him. "Don't you like dragons?"

"Not dragon monsters." Chris said as he turned and tried to escape. He quickly realized he was not fast enough as the monster was on top of him, pinning him to the floor. "Where are you taking me?" he asked, his voice croaking.

"You'll see." She replied before transporting her catch to one of Zedd's dark dimensions.

* * *

That same morning in the Youth Center, Tommy was watching as Jason and Rocky finished a sparring match. He was also stealing the occasional glance at Kat, who was finishing up with one of her classes. As he watched the dancers, he could hear his two friends getting louder. His attention snapped back toward them. "Come on guys, keep it up!" he called out as though he had been watching the entire time.

He watched as Jason and Rocky went back and forth, punching and kicking, blocking and dodging. Eventually Rocky got Jason down, something he had not managed to do in their last few sessions. "Good match." Rocky said as he extended his hand to the green ranger.

Taking it, Jason stood back up. "It was fun. Until the end." He said with a grin as they both went to grab their bottled waters.

"You guys looked good out there." Tommy said as they approached his table.

"Thanks bro." Jason said as he took a swig from his bottle.

Rocky glanced at Jason and grinned before he turned toward the red ranger. "Were you watching us or Kat and her kids?"

Tommy chuckled. He did not realize he had been that obvious. "Well, they looked good too."

"Come on guys, you ready to go." Jason asked, not wanting to get into details about Tommy staring at Kat. He had been there for the Tommy and Kim relationship. He found this situation they were in now weird. He was ready to go to the beach to see his only love interest, who was working that day. Rocky was heading that way with him so that he could get to work and Tommy was planning to tag along.

Rocky glanced over at the time. "Yup. I've got to be at work soon."

"I may stay here for a while." Tommy said as Kat finished her class for the day. "I want to talk to her."

"That's cool bro." Jason said as he gathered his belongings.

"We'll talk to you later." Rocky said, tossing a gym bag over his shoulder as he and Jason headed for the door.

The two rangers walked outside and headed down the street. Jason took a deep breath in. For what was supposed to be mid fall, the weather was amazing. "It's a beautiful day today."

Rocky groaned. This was usually the time of year when they were slack, cutting back on staff and enjoying the relatively quiet beaches. However, the warmer weather that kicked back up had changed all that. "I'm going to be busy today."

Jason laughed. "Sorry man, but the rest of us are going to enjoy the day."

"Yeah and"

Rocky's words were cut short as Rita and Zedd's latest creation appeared in front of them. "Welcome to your nightmare." Dragoneyes said with a smile.

The duo immediately dropped their bags and jumped into fighting stance. Unfortunately, they could not morph because there were still people in the area. That would not stop them from defending themselves though.

"You've picked the wrong two people to mess with." Rocky warned the monster.

Dragoneyes laughed. "Quite the opposite." She said as she stared them over. An idea came to her. "How would you boys like to come with me?" she asked, figuring capturing a few male rangers could not hurt.

"That's not on the agenda for today." Jason assured her as he glanced over at Rocky. He wished the people would hurry up and clear the area. They could fight the monster, but they needed to morph.

"How much fun is a day without unplanned events?" Dragoneyes asked with a laugh.

"I happen to like boring." Rocky said, and then turned toward Jason who nodded in agreement. If they were going to keep boring, they were going to have to take her down.

* * *

Back in the Youth Center, the last of Kat's kids left her care and Tommy headed over to talk to the pink ranger. "You do a great job with those kids." He said as he smiled at her.

Kat blushed. "Thank you." She replied. She did not realize he had been paying that much attention to them.

"So how did it go last night?" Tommy asked, curious about the last minute tutoring session.

"Last night?" Kat repeated, her heart skipping a beat. What did he know about last night?

"With that thing with your dancer." Tommy supplied, wondering what she thought he was inferring.

"Oh of course." Kat said with a smile, wishing she had talked to Carri before she came down there that morning. She really had no clue what she was supposed to be doing last night. "Well"

Fortunately, Kat did not have to worry about her response for long as their communicators chirped. "I guess this will have to wait." Tommy said as he put an arm around Kat and steered her toward their usual spot. Once they were clear, Tommy put his communicator to his mouth. "Go ahead."

"Jason and Rocky are in need of your assistance!" Alpha's robotic voice came through.

"We're on our way." Tommy spoke quickly as he and Kat moved into position. "It's morphin time!"

"Zeo ranger one, pink!"

"Zeo ranger five, red!"

The pink and red zeo rangers appeared on the scene just in time to see Dragoneyes shoot several powerful green lasers from her eyes at their two friends, then attack the two with a burst of red energy, which appeared to be some sort of fire based attack. Rocky and Jason, who had managed to morph moments earlier, hit the ground hard and powered down when they hit the ground. Dragoneyes immediately went after them.

"Stay away from them!" Tommy yelled as he and Kat ran to attack.

Before they could get to the two rangers, Dragoneyes grabbed the groggy teens and disappeared, stopping the pink and red rangers in their tracks. "No!" Kat yelled in disbelief.

"Come on Kat, let's get back to the Power Chamber." Tommy said and the two of them quickly teleported off.

* * *

"Zordon, that monster has Rocky and Jason!" Kat exclaimed, taking her helmet off and glancing at their mentor as soon as they materialized.

"Aye ai ai!" Alpha exclaimed as he turned toward the two rangers. "It appears as though Dragoneyes has captured another human and is holding them hostage in the same dimension she has Rocky and Jason in."

"Who is it?" Tommy asked, wondering briefly if she had gotten to the yellow ranger who had yet to be seen.

"I can't be sure." Alpha replied. "I need more time to analyze the situation."

It was then that a yellow streak of light appeared and faded away into the yellow ranger. "Sorry guys, I couldn't get away." She apologized. She had been in the middle of the mall when she was paged. It was not easy to get out and find a safe location. "What did I miss?"

Tommy turned toward his teammate. "Zedd's new monster, Dragoneyes, has captured Rocky, Jason and a civilian and taken them to one of their dimensions." He quickly filled her in.

"Crap." Carri said with a sigh. This was not the way she wanted her day to go. "So do we have a plan?" she asked, ready to bust on in and rescue them.

"As soon as I get a lock on the others, one of you may be able to slip in to the other dimension and rescue them." Alpha said, watching as the yellow ranger nodded.

Before anyone could say anything, the alarm went off. "Rangers, Dragoneyes is in the park and looking for you." Zordon quickly informed them.

"Got it." Tommy said. "It's back to action!"

As Tommy and Kat donned their full uniforms again, Carri morphed into the yellow Zeo ranger and the three of them took off for the battlefield, where Dragoneyes immediately greeted them. "Ah, more rangers for me to take!" she exclaimed with a smile as she finally took note of the pink ranger. "And this time pinky is ready to fight too."

"What do you want with us?" Kat asked, ignoring the fact that the monster was taking note of her.

"Rita and Zedd want you." She replied as she eyed Kat. "As for your friends, they are mine to kill."

"I don't think so." Tommy replied before leaping up to attack Dragoneyes. Before he could get close, she fired beams from her eyes and sent him flying into a tree.

Kat and Carri grabbed their Zeo Swords then went flying over Dragoneyes, slashing her as they flipped over her. Dragoneyes stumbled, and then turned around to focus on them. "Pink ranger, you've met your match. I'll destroy you for that." She warned with a smile. "Then again, Lord Zedd wants you, so I'll have just as much fun killing your yellow friend."

Carri cocked her head to the side. "If I didn't know better, I'd say she has something personal against us." She said, ready to show Dragoneyes how killing her wasn't going to work.

"Against me you mean." Kat was quick to correct. She wanted to kill the others; she was saving her for something else.

"I hate both of you." Dragoneyes assured them. Kat was the one she was least fond of, although as a monster she did not care much for Carri either.

"Zeo two power kick!" Carri yelled, jumping up and kicking Dragoneyes. "I've had enough talk. Let's take her down."

"I'm not the one going down!" she yelled as she fired beams at both of them.

As the pink and yellow rangers tumbled back, Tommy flew forward, Zeo weapon in hand. He hit Dragoneyes from behind, and she was less than pleased. "Annoying pest!" she hissed. "I thought I got rid of you."

"You can't get rid of me that easily!" Tommy assured her.

"We'll see about that." Dragoneyes replied, taking it as some sort of challenge. She then hit Tommy with a red beam, more powerful than the one she hit Rocky and Jason with.

"Argh!" Tommy exclaimed as the beam hit him. He flew back toward the ground and powered down, and rendered unconscious.

"Tommy!" Kat yelled, holding a hand out toward him.

"Now that he's out of my hair…" Dragoneyes said with a smile, letting her voice trail off as she turned back toward the female rangers.

Carri and Kat looked at Tommy, who was several feet behind Dragoneyes. Then they glanced at each other. They quickly grabbed their swords and flipped over Dragoneyes to get to Tommy. However, she was not going to make it easy for them. Dragoneyes fired beams at them while they were in midair. They both fell to the ground and rolled back. When they stopped, they were a few feet away from the red ranger.

"Let's get out of here." Kat said as she grabbed Tommy and teleported out.

Carri made a face. She would have elected to stay and fight, even down three rangers. There was still a monster terrorizing people who did not care that they were not at full strength. However, with Kat gone, she followed suit. "Right behind you." She said teleporting out as well.

* * *

Dragoneyes appeared back in the dark dimension and she glanced over at the boys, who were chained to the wall. "Your friends weren't very fun. They left before I could kill them. However, the red one… I did get him pretty good. He'll be down for a while."

"What are you doing?" Jason asked, not really expecting a straightforward answer from the monster.

"Isn't it obvious?" she asked, somewhat playfully. "Destroying you."

Rocky rolled his eyes. "How many monsters say that?" he asked. It certainly was not an original thought.

When she did not reply, Chris spoke up in a panic. "Why would you want to destroy us?" He had no clue what was going on, no idea why a monster would kidnap him or the other men in the room.

Glancing seductively at Chris before turning her gaze to Jason and Rocky, she smiled. "Maybe I won't destroy you boys. Maybe you three can keep me company."

Jason snorted. "Like that would ever happen." No way would he spend the rest of his life as some weird monster sex slave.

Ignoring the comment, Dragoneyes walked over to the two male rangers. She reached up and touched each of their faces, smiling as she did so. "You two will do quite nicely." She said before moving on to Chris.

Rocky leaned in closer to Jason. "Do they make psych hospitals for monsters?" He asked, resisting the urge to laugh.

The green ranger started to chuckle, but quickly reigned it in when Dragoneyes turned to stare at him. Amusing or not, she was still a monster. She glared at them both and snarled. "Do you find me funny?"

"Just crazy." Jason replied with a shrug. He did not think that was too much of an insult. After all, all the monsters were crazy.

"Maybe I will kill all of you!" Dragoneyes yelled, that last comment by Jason getting her to snap. "Saving you for last." She said as she glanced over at Chris and smiled.

"I don't understand." Chris said with a whine, trying to be as brave as the other two male captives but not sure if he could hold it together much longer.

"You can watch them all die." Dragoneyes said, this time a little more calmly. "These two boys, Tommy and Carri…. Kat." She finished with a snarl.

Chris gasped when she said Kat's name. "Leave Kat alone!" he exclaimed, sheer panic in his voice.

Rocky and Jason exchanged confused glances. Why would this stranger be so protective of Kat? It did not make any sense. Unless of course there was a method behind all this madness. "How come I'm getting the feeling Kat wasn't with a student last night?" Jason whispered.

"I don't know, but I'm getting that feeling too." Rocky whispered back.

"Let us go, please!" Chris said, begging for his life and for the life of the girl he was into.

"That's not going to happen." Dragoneyes said, and with a self-satisfied smile, she walked off.

* * *

In the Power Chamber, Alpha was in the process of giving the red ranger a thorough evaluation. When he was done, he glanced at the female rangers. "He is going to be out for a little while, but he should be fine."

Carri nodded. That was one piece of good news. "What about the other dimension? Have you found it?"

Alpha walked over to one of the consoles and pulled a visual up of the dimension. As it came into focus, they saw Dragoneyes walking around three men. Two of them were immediately recognizable. The third was the one that caught Kat's eye.

"Chris!" she exclaimed, fear taking over that her new friend or love interest or whatever he was to her had already been pulled into ranger affairs.

Carri glanced over at Kat. This was obviously overwhelming her cousin. She wanted to go in before, but now she knew she had to. She was going to be the one in charge of operation rescue rangers. "Now that we know the situation, can we get in?"

Alpha teleported a device into the room. "This is Billy's invention. It will allow you to travel to another dimension."

"Great." Carri said with a slight nod of her head. "Set it up and I'll go grab the boys."

"But…" Kat opened her mouth to protest Carri's going. She was anxious to go ahead and help rescue Chris. However, maybe in the end it was better if her cousin went. "I'll set it up and stay back in case Dragoneyes attacks again."

"I'm the only one who can set it up." A surprise male voice said from behind.

Kat and Carri spun around. "Billy!" The yellow ranger exclaimed as she and Kat ran to give an old friend a hug. "What are you doing here?"

Billy smiled, thrilled with the warm reception. "Alpha called and told me what was going on. I was more than happy to come and help."

"Thanks Billy." Kat said with a smile.

"I'll take Carri and get her into the other dimension. Kat, why don't you stay here and be on the lookout for any more attacks." Billy said, issuing out orders.

"Alright." Kat agreed with a nod.

Billy then grabbed one piece of the device while Carri grabbed the other. The two headed down to the surface, and the former blue ranger went to work setting things up. A few minutes later, it was ready. "Now the portal won't stay open for long." Billy warned. "You need to get in and get out."

"Got it." Carri said with a nod. She had not planned on staying long anyway. "No stopping and chatting."

Billy made one last adjustment and the portal opened. Before Carri could take off, a handful of Tengas appeared to stop them. "Crap." Carri muttered as she prepared to take them on.

"Ninjetti, wolf!" Billy called out before Carri got the chance to do anything.

She watched, surprised and confused, as the blue Wolf Ninjetti stood in front of her. "But how…" her voice trailed off.

"Something I did on Aquitar. I went to Phaedos not long after you and, well, here I am." Billy said with a smile. Before she could say anything else, he gave a nod back to the portal. "I'll take care of them. You have a rescue to complete."

"Right." Carri agreed, before turning and jumping through the portal.

She appeared in the dimension, and ducked out of everyone's view for the moment so she could get a good idea of what was going on. She noticed Dragoneyes, who yelled something before taking off. "This should be easy." She said to herself.

As the words left her mouth, a group of Tengas appeared in front of the three boys. "Oh yellow ranger! Come out come out wherever you are!" One taunted.

The corner of her lips curled up. "You want me, you got me. Ninjetti, panther!" she called out, transforming before she jumped in front of them. She cocked her head to the side and held one hand out. "Bring it." She said, not at all threatened by the overstuffed birds.

* * *

Kat saw Billy getting attacked on the viewing screen. She started to go help him, but the Power Chamber alarms went off. "Aye ai ai!" Alpha exclaimed, turning the pink ranger's attention toward him. "Dragoneyes is attacking people in the park!"

"I have to stop her." Kat said as she moved into position. "It's morphin time! Zeo ranger one, pink!"

Seconds later, she was face to face with Dragoneyes in the park. "Leave them alone!" she said as she gestured toward the innocent civilians.

"Of course." Dragoneyes said, her focus shifting toward Kat. "Since it's you I want." This was going to be too easy. Red ranger was down, blue and green have been kidnapped, and she was keeping yellow occupied.

"If you want to fight me, I'm right here." Kat said, still trying to figure out what this was all about.

"This is better than I could have ever planned it." Dragoneyes said with a smile as she glanced at Kat. "It's just you and me, with no chance of backup." She said before firing.

Kat jumped out of the way and pulled out her Zeo Pistol, firing back. Dragoneyes simply laughed at her, as the blast did no damage. "Did I make you angry Kitty?" Then she fired another blast at her, just as powerful as the one she hit Tommy with earlier.

The pink ranger scurried out of the way, but could not manage to miss the blast entirely. She fell to the ground, grabbing her arm in pain. Dragoneyes laughed. "Now you're mine!" she exclaimed as she ran toward her.

"It's time for a Gold Rush!" Trey yelled, glad that his teleportation in was missed by both the monster and Kat as he ran and hit Dragoneyes in the back.

As she screamed and fell to her knees, Trey ran to Kat's side. "Are you ok?" he asked, helping her up.

"I'll be fine." Kat assured him as she stood.

"Let's finish her off." Trey said as he glanced toward the monster.

"We need the Zeo Cannon now!" Kat yelled. The cannon fell into the hands of the two rangers, and they pointed it at the still down Dragoneyes. "Fire!" Kat cried out, watching as the blast hit her dead on. She fell back, but not ones to accept defeat easily, Rita and Zedd made her grow.

Not fazed by the normal turn of events, Kat continued. "I need Super Zeo Zord power now!"

Seconds later, she was locked into another battle with Dragoneyes, who was simply amused by it all. "Face it Kitty, you'll never destroy me." She lifted her hand into the air and a sword fell into it. "A gift from Rita and Zedd. Do you like it?" she asked as she used the sword to slash the zord.

Kat stumbled back and tried to come up with a counterattack, however she was struggling. She was finding Dragoneyes and her new, powerful sword hard to deal with. Finally she got some assistance.

"Need some help?" Tommy's voice came through the comms as he swooped in with his Red Battlezord.

"Tommy! You're alright!" Kat exclaimed, relieved to see him there.

"And here to bring her down for good." Tommy said as he gestured at the monster from the cockpit of his zord.

"I'd think twice red ranger before I made threats I couldn't follow up on." Dragoneyes said, frustrated that he was up and moving again so soon. She watched as he started to fire at her, then she took her sword and slashed him back. He stumbled back into the Super Zeo Zord, and knocked them both down.

Trey watched the zords crash while Tommy and Kat fall helplessly to the ground. He looked up at Dragoneyes. "Now you have me to deal with. I call upon the power of Pyramidas!" The large pyramid shaped zord came out of hiding and Trey jumped into it. "Let's see how you like this.", he said pressing a button. Pyramidas fired, and finally brought Dragoneyes down.

As they watched Dragoneyes fall, Kat turned to Tommy. "I'm going to go check on the others." She said, walking off. Once she was out of his line of sight, she powered down and teleported to the location of Billy's dimensional portal.

Leaping out of Pyramidas, Trey appeared on the ground beside Tommy. The red ranger gave him a nod. "Thanks for your help."

"Anytime." The gold ranger replied.

The duo heard a soft moan. They turned to see a college-aged girl slowly getting up from the place Dragoneyes once stood. Tommy turned toward his fellow ranger. "Was she…"

"Yes she was." Trey said, answering the unasked question. "My sensors picked up something human about the monster; they just couldn't tell what it was."

The two rangers went to her side, and Tommy moved to help her up. Mollie looked at them. "Who are you?" she asked, hoping they would answer more than just power rangers, "and what happened to me?"

"We're the power rangers." Tommy said, thinking it had been obvious.

Mollie snorted. "Well duh." She replied. She should not have expected them to give her their identities when they would not do it for anyone else.

Trey ignored her response and went to answer her second question. "You were under an evil spell. But you're alright now."

Tommy glanced toward the gold ranger. "Will you see to it that she makes it home alright? I need to go check on the others."

"Of course." Trey agreed, and then watched as the red ranger teleported away.

* * *

While the fight against Dragoneyes was going on, Carri was fighting Tengas in the dark dimension. "Stupid birds." She said with a sigh as she flung some more of them out of the way. "Next time, save yourselves the trouble and just stay home."

As she finished she jumped up and kicked two of the birds back, and they went flying toward the male rangers. Excited to be able to do something, they lifted their feet up and gave the Tengas a good kick backwards. "Thanks." Carri said with a smile, watching as Chris looked on in surprise. "Not bad for the hostages." She added.

Quickly she finished taking out the remainder of the oversized squawkers, then she moved to untie the hand restraints that were holding the boys to the wall. "Thanks." Chris said as she freed him. "I thought we were goners."

"Nah." She said with a smile. It definitely wasn't the most sinister plot she had ever seen from the duo. "You had the rangers to rescue you, no worries." She added.

She finished untying the rangers, and then led the trio back to where the portal was. She silently thanked the great power that the thing was still open. She was afraid she wasted too much time with the Tengas.

Carri waited for the boys to jump through before exiting the portal herself. As she came through, Billy finished the last of the Tengas and turned toward her. "You're back."

"Piece of cake." Carri said with a smile as Rocky and Jason looked at each other surprised. Neither was expecting Billy to return, let alone with Ninjetti powers.

"Katherine!" Chris yelled, spotting the pink ranger as she came running toward them.

Kat slowed down as she approached the group, then went and gave Chris a hug. She felt horrible; he was put through hell today because he was with her. "What happened?"

"This terrifying monster captured me and threatened to kill you." He said with a frown. It was a horrible ordeal, and he was glad it was over.

"I had a monster chase me, but the gold ranger saved me." Kat told him. That was mostly true. If she was going to spend time with him, she knew that was going to be the first of many mostly truths.

"That's good." Chris said with a smile as he reached out and grabbed her hands. "I'd really miss you if something happened."

Surprised at first, Kat let him take a hold of her hands and she smiled back at him. "Me too." She said. She could not help but think that maybe she would like to try this thing between them. She watched as he leaned toward her, and did not try to stop him as he moved in for a kiss.

Carri clicked her tongue from behind her Ninjetti suit. "Some friend." She grumbled. She knew this situation was going to come back to bite her in the ass. She was hoping that at least Kat would dump Tommy first.

A flash of red light appeared on the scene. He was only there for a second or two before he took off. "Shit." Jason said with feeling as he watched his best friend disappear quickly. This was not going to be good.

"Student. Sure." Rocky spoke in a low grumble.

Chris and Kat separated. They were so involved in each other that they did not even notice the dirty looks the others were giving them. They were too busy being happy, and Kat had finally made her choice.

"We need to return to the Power Chamber." Billy said, snapping the others back into the moment. He had no idea what had gone on in the time he had been on Aquitar. He thought Tommy and Kat were close when he left.

"Yes. We do." Carri said with a sigh as she grabbed a piece of his device while the blue Ninjetti grabbed the other. Then the two Ninjetti teleported off, leaving Jason and Rocky alone with the new couple.

* * *

It was not long before Billy and Carri were standing with the sulking red ranger. "I can't believe it." Tommy said. "I thought… I thought she loved me." He knew things between the two of them were complicated, but if she didn't love him… well he wished she had told him, it would have made the last few months easier.

Carri reached over and put a hand on his shoulder. "Maybe it wasn't meant to be." She said, leaving out the other half of that sentence. The part where he should be with Kim anyway so this was not really a bad thing.

"I…. I don't know. I have to think." Tommy said standing and teleporting out just as Jason and Rocky teleported in.

"Where's Tommy?" Jason asked as they materialized.

"You just missed him." Billy replied.

Jason simply shook his head. "I need to go talk to him."

"Give him a few minutes." Carri said, hoping to stop him before he rushed off. "He needs time to think."

Rocky glanced at his girlfriend. She was the one that came up with what he assumed was the student lie. He could not help but wonder if she knew all along. "Did you cover for Kat last night?" Tommy was their friend, it was not right to do this to him.

"Well… yeah." Carri admitted. Although she was not sure how apologetic she was going to be about it, it was going to fix the entire miserable mess that Tommy created in the first place. Seeing the look the boys exchanged, she continued. "Look, I didn't think this was going to happen. She said she and Chris were just friends. I thought there was more there but I never thought she'd move along with him without breaking up with Tommy first."

Jason raised an eyebrow before sighing. "It's ok. We know you didn't expect this to happen." He knew what she expected. She expected Kat to break up with Tommy and fix the stupid situation the red ranger got himself into in the first place. While he was happy that Kim would get her second chance now, he didn't like seeing Tommy that upset.

"I'm surprised Kat did that." Rocky said with a frown. He was not going to lecture his girlfriend about lying. Kat was her cousin, and he supposed she was doing what she thought was best for her.

Billy nodded in agreement. "This isn't like her at all."

The room was silent for a moment. They really did not know what to say about the Tommy situation. Finally, Rocky changed topics. "So, Billy, you're a Ninjetti again?"

Billy smiled and nodded. "It had to do with something I did while on Aquitar. Delphine sent me to Phaedos to talk do Dulcea shortly afterwards, and she gave the powers back to me."

"That's great." Rocky said as he reached over and hit his shoulder. He knew how upset Billy was that he could not be a morphing ranger anymore. Granted Ninjetti powers were not morphing powers, but it was something. "And you're blue." He added. This whole Ninjetti color scheme was odd.

"So then everybody who gets their Ninjetti powers back, gets their old color?" Jason questioned. The thought had crossed his mind ever since their trip to Phaedos, but they never really went into a lengthy discussion about it.

"That was my understanding from my conversation with Dulcea." Billy replied.

"What about me?" Carri piped up. It did not make any sense. "Aisha was the original yellow Ninjetti. Now I'm yellow."

Billy nodded. He had already looked into that anomaly. "When Aisha elected to stay in Africa as a child, she inadvertently changed several things about her future. With her located elsewhere when time moved forward again, it was almost as though she was never there for the original mission to Phaedos. Therefore her tenure as the yellow Ninjetti was vacated, leaving a spot for you to fill."

"But we all remember her being there. She was the bear Ninjetti." Rocky protested. It did not make sense at all.

Billy frowned. There was a simple mathematical formula that explained everything; however, he knew the other rangers were not at a high enough intellect level to grasp it. "It has to do with the intricacies of the space time continuum and their correcting some errors while allowing others to stand in order to make sure we reappeared at the correct spot in the future."

"Huh?" Carri said glancing at the boys, who simply shrugged.

"The timeline fixed itself in different spots to keep things the same." Billy said. That was the way over simplified version, but if it got them to understand why some things changed while others did not it was ok.

"I got it." Jason replied, wishing that Trini was still there. When Billy got all scientific she was the only one who could translate.

"I need to be returning to Aquitar." Billy said as he looked over at the others. "I'm glad I could be of assistance today."

"Thank you Billy." Carri said as she leaned over and gave him a hug. The other rangers went to say goodbye as well, then Billy took off.

Once Billy was gone, Jason looked toward the others. "I'm going to go find Tommy." He said. Hopefully he could make him see that this was for the best.

"I need to get to work." Rocky said as Jason teleported out. He was already really late, and while monster attack was a very valid excuse, he hated to continue to have to give it. He gave his girlfriend a quick kiss, then both of them teleported away, leaving Alpha and Zordon alone in the Power Chamber.

* * *

Kat and Chris, who had decided to try this dating thing, were walking hand in hand down the beach. Chris looked up and he spotted his ex-walking in their direction. "Hey Mollie!" he called out.

Mollie glanced up, startled at first. She had not seen him; she had not really wanted to see him. However, she decided to be civil. "Hey Chris." She said, glancing at the woman he was with. It was the same woman from the other night. "So… this your new girlfriend?"

"Mollie this is Kat." Chris spoke quickly. He had not expected them to meet so soon, but it would be all right. "And Kat, this is my ex-girlfriend Mollie."

"Nice to meet you." Kat said as she extended her hand out to Mollie.

The other woman paused for a moment, debating on a response, before taking her hand and shaking it. "You too." She said. She could not get mad at Kat, it was not like she was the reason they broke up or that she was his girlfriend on the side.

Kat smiled as their hands dropped, and then a silence fell over them. It was weird standing here with his ex. Of course, he was going to have to hang out with her ex, the man who she had not even broken up with yet. The pink ranger could not help but let out a sigh at the thought.

"What's wrong?" Chris asked, not missing the noise that escaped her lips.

"Nothing's wrong." Kat said, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. "I was just going to suggest that maybe Mollie join us." That was a lie, but if he was going to have to hang out with Tommy, she might as well get to know Mollie.

"Well I." Mollie stopped short and let out a noise as she fell to the sand. Turning, she saw the football that just clocked her and the man running over to grab it.

"Ello." He said in a heavy British accent as he smiled at her. "Sorry about that." He added as he extended a hand to help her up off the ground.

She took the hand and let him pull her to a standing position. "That's ok." He was sexy. He could knock her over any time.

"Abs." Steven "Abs" Insco said as he extended his hand to her.

"Strange name." She said as she took his hand. "Mollie." She told him.

Abs grinned broadly and put a hand down to his chest. "Well it was nice to meet you Mollie." He said, turning to throw the football back toward his friend before jogging back to his original spot to continue to play catch.

She watched him for a moment before turning back toward Chris and Kat. "So where were we?" she asked.

"You were getting ready to say something." Chris replied. It was weird watching her interact with another guy. He liked Kat so far and was happy not to be with Mollie, but still it was weird.

"Oh yeah." Mollie said, remembering where they were. Right now, what she wanted to do was watch Abs play football, not talk to them. "I was going to say that" she stopped as she got whacked with the football again, and once again fell to the sand.

"Terribly sorry." Abs said as he jogged over and reached down to help Mollie up. "See my friend down there?" He said as he gestured down the beach. "He can't throw. He just likes to pretend. Pretty good at it too, he's got this whole leader attitude about it, makes him look like he knows what he's doing."

"That's alright." Mollie said. She doubted that was the truth. He was just trying to come over here and say hello again, which was perfectly fine with her.

"That's Mike. Say hello Mike." He yelled down the beach, watching as Mike Corbett called out a hello. "He's my roommate at USC. He is graduating this year. Nice guy, wants to go into space someday, or maybe join the military. Whichever." Abs said with a shrug. "Me, I have no idea what I want to do with my life. Have fun for now. What about you?"

"You go to USC?" Mollie questioned, watching as he smiled and nodded. Hot and spent his days on the same campus she did. That was a bonus. "I haven't picked my major yet."

"Sounds like me." Abs said with a smile. "So, I was wondering, would you like to have dinner tonight?"

Mollie blinked, surprised at first. She had not expected him to ask her out quite like that, but she would take it. "Sure, dinner sounds great."

"Great, glad to hear it." Abs said before putting the football in her hands. "Can you throw it?"

Mike motioned with his hands for her to throw the ball toward him. She launched it in that direction. It was not pretty, but it got to him. "Not bad." Mollie said with a grin.

"Want to play catch with us?" Abs questioned as he glanced over at her, before turning and catching a glimpse of Kat and Chris. "Unless, of course, you're busy."

Mollie glanced back at Chris and shot him a look, as if daring him to say something about this. "Nope, I'd love to play catch with you boys."

"We'll talk to you later Mollie." Chris said, taking his girlfriend and leading her away from the game of catch. They walked for another few minutes before Chris glanced down at his watch. "I promised my friends I'd meet them soon."

"That's fine." Kat said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "I have something I need to do anyway."

"I'll call you later." Chris promised, before smiling at her and taking off.

Once Chris was gone, Kat headed off to find the red ranger.

* * *

"Tommy!" Jason called out to his best friend, who was standing in the middle of Angel Grove Park, taking his frustration out on a portable punching bag.

Tommy stopped pounding the bag and looked up at him. "What?" he snapped, more harshly than he intended.

"You look like you need someone to talk to." Jason said as he approached him.

"I'm fine." Tommy said with a growl, turning and pounding the bag harder than before.

Jason moved in and put his hands on the bag. Tommy stopped hitting it and glared at his best friend. "Did you know?"

"About Kat?" Jason asked, watching as the red ranger nodded. "Nobody knew she was dating him. Kat surprised us as much with that kiss as she did you."

Tommy slumped down to the grass. "Why? Why would she do this to me?" he questioned as Jason moved to sit down with him. "I thought we had something."

"I don't know why she'd do that." He replied honestly. He was not going to say it, but perhaps Kat was finally realizing she would never be Tommy's number one. He could not blame her. Besides, it was not as if Tommy did not have someone else waiting for him. "Maybe it's not so bad. Kim still loves you."

"Kim's still in Florida." Tommy was quick to point out. It was the entire reason she wrote him that bogus letter in the first place. "Who knows when that will change, and if it does what if she changes her mind?"

"I know Kim better than anyone, and I've never seen her care about someone the way she does about you." Jason assured him. There was no way Kim had changed her mind. Besides, he saw the way she got last time they saw her.

"I hope you're right." Tommy said, shaking his head. "First Kim, now Kat. I just can't keep a girlfriend."

Jason shrugged. "Maybe you're batting for the wrong team." He said as seriously as possible. Tommy glanced over at him and he chuckled as the red ranger gave him a hard shove. Jason tumbled over before jumping up. "You want a piece of me?" he said, happy to see a smile on his best friends face.

"You're on." Tommy replied, before he and Jason started sparring in the park.

The guys were having a lot of fun, and it was keeping Tommy's mind off of Kat. However, thoughts of the pink ranger came flooding back when they paused and he saw her walking toward them. "I'll talk to you later." Jason said, turning and walking off. He did not know how this conversation would go, but they needed to have it.

As Kat walked toward him, Tommy crossed his arms over his chest. "Hello Katherine." He greeted her rather coldly. Maybe something good would come out of this, but for now, he was having trouble accepting it.

"I need to talk to you." Kat said as she approached.

Tommy turned his back to her. "There isn't much to say."

"I have a lot to say." Kat assured him. She wanted to talk to him, even if he did not want to hear it.

"What?" Tommy snapped as he turned back toward her.

Kat glanced down at the ground. She felt guilty. As she should, after all, it was her fault he was in so much pain. She caught a glimpse of his teleportation streak earlier, knew he had seen her. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Then why did you?" he asked. He had to know. He thought they had something special. He cared about her, and he thought she loved him; it was why he had had mixed feelings over the last few months.

"Because... well I don't even I know why I did what I did. I met Chris and it was like sparks went flying. We went out as friends but I wanted more than that." Kat told him. "Besides you never loved me anyway, you always have loved Kim." That was the real reason she let Chris in so easily. In the back of her mind, she knew. She always knew. She just hoped that maybe he would grow to love her as much as he loved Kim.

"That's not true!" Tommy exclaimed. "I love you, or loved, until I saw you kissing him in the park. That broke my heart." He always loved her. She was there for him when Kim broke up with him; she cared about him and helped him for months afterwards. Then he asked her out, and he did love her. The situation with Kim… well he would admit to loving the original pink ranger more. However, that did not change the fact that he did love Kat.

"Like mine didn't break when I saw you kissing Kim in Florida!" Kat exclaimed. She had not wanted to bring Kim up, but he needed to know that they had both been wrong in this relationship.

Tommy was silent for a moment. "I never meant for that to happen." He never meant to go to Florida and find out that his ex, who he still thought about, who he never really stopped loving, loved him back. It was complicated.

"And I never meant for this to happen." Kat assured him. She honestly did not. She got wrapped up in the moment, and one thing led to another, but she had never intended it to go this way. "But it did. And unlike last time, I don't want to move on. I want to date Chris."

After a few moments of silence, Tommy spoke. "So this is it then?"

"I'm sorry." Kat said in a whisper. "You'll always hold a special place in my heart." She spoke a little louder. For her to stay with him these last few months and ignore logic, he meant a lot to her. "I'd understand if you never wanted to see me again."

Tommy's shoulders dropped as he reached over and pulled Kat into a hug. "We can still be friends." He assured her. Perhaps he had started this whole mess, he didn't know. He knew there was a chance it would not last. He couldn't hate Kat for it.

"Friends." Kat agreed as she returned his hug. They broke apart and she smiled at her ex-boyfriend, before turning to walk away slowly, ending their nine-month relationship.


	18. Homecoming

**Disclaimer: **All known ranger characters belong to Saban. Everyone else belongs to me and cannot be used without my permission.  
**Authors Notes:** Yay for a new chapter! For those who haven't heard already, I became a mom this past summer. Because of that chapters have been way behind. But I am writing so they are coming. Just way slower than I am used to. Thank you to all my readers who are hanging in there with me :)

Ranger Scrolls  
"Homecoming"

A young man sat in his room wishing there was something for him to do. There used to be something for him to do, even here. However, here he had long worn out his usefulness. When he first came this looked like the greatest opportunity. He had the chance to work with some of the best available technology, to learn and create things and do some real good. He did, for a while. Until he was told he was getting in the way. Well, they never said it quite like that, but they might as well have.

Deciding he was tired of sitting there and feeling sorry for himself, he got up and headed out to see if there was anything he could contribute to. As he walked into one of the science labs, he saw some of his colleagues working on something.

"There is a problem here; I am just not sure what it is." Aurico said as he studied a machine carefully.

Billy Cranston made himself known as he approached the Aquitarian ranger. "Need a hand?"

"No, we have got it." Aurico replied before standing and turning toward his assistant, a man that Billy was unfamiliar with.

Billy stepped in closer to see what they were working on. It was easy for him to spot the problem once he analyzed the situation. "If you just"

"Billy, would it be possible for us to discuss matters later?" Aurico asked. He enjoyed the former ranger's company, but now he was extremely busy and did not have time to deal with him.

"Not a problem." Billy said. Then he walked out of there, went into his room, and lay down on his bed. That was all he got for all the times he helped them out. He got sent away. He knew what was going on. But these days nobody appreciates his intelligence. Well, almost nobody.

His thoughts went back to a few weeks ago. He was in the communications room when Delphine received a call from Earth. She was surprised when Alpha came up on the screen. Billy was too, he still remembered watching their conversation. In fact he remembered the whole experience like it was yesterday, it was something he was still holding on to.

"Is something wrong?" Delphine asked the robot.

"I need to speak with Billy." Alpha replied. He did not have time to say hello to the Aquitarian team, rangers lives were at stake.

"Is there something we can assist you with?" Delphine questioned, willing to help Earth's rangers if necessary.

"No." Alpha replied quickly. "Only Billy can help us."

Billy chose that moment to push into Alpha's view so the little robot would know he was there. "What's wrong Alpha?"

"Billy it is good to see you." Alpha started the conversation. Before Billy could reply, Alpha moved to the reason he was calling. "Do you remember the device you built to get into Rita's dark dimensions?"

"Yes of course." Billy replied. He could not forget about anything he developed for the rangers.

"Rita and Zedd's new monster, Dragoneyes, has captured Rocky, Jason and another human in a dark dimension and I was hoping you would come to operate the device once we've figured out what dimension they are in." Alpha explained the situation to the former ranger.

Billy smiled. "Of course. I'll be there as soon as possible." He replied. Then they ended the communication. No one questioned his speedy departure, not even his supposed to be girlfriend. However, he should expect that. It seemed as though he was getting dumber. Or perhaps they were getting smarter. Either way he wasn't needed.

Once he left, it didn't take him long to arrive in the Earth's atmosphere. He immediately teleported to the Power Chamber.

"I'll set it up and stay back in case Dragoneyes attacks again." Kat said just as Billy materialized in the room he once thought of as home.

"I'm the only one who can set it up." He said, calling their attention toward him.

Kat and Carri spun around. "Billy!" The yellow ranger exclaimed as she and Kat ran to give an old friend a hug. "What are you doing here?"

Billy smiled, thrilled with the warm reception. "Alpha called and told me what was going on. I was more than happy to come help."

"Thanks Billy." Kat said with a smile.

"I'll take Carri and get her into the other dimension, Kat why don't you stay here and keep an eye out for any attacks." Billy said, issuing out orders.

"Alright." Kat agreed with a nod.

Billy then grabbed one piece of the device while Carri grabbed the other. The two headed down to the surface, and the former blue ranger went to work setting things up. A few minutes later, it was ready. "Now the portal won't stay open for long." Billy warned. "You need to get in and get out."

"Got it." Carri said with a nod. She had not planned to stay long anyway. "No stopping and chatting."

Billy made one last adjustment and the portal opened. Before Carri could take off, a handful of Tengas appeared to stop them. "Crap." Carri muttered as she prepared to take them on.

"Ninjetti, wolf!" Billy called out before Carri got the chance to do anything.

She watched, surprised and confused, as the blue Wolf Ninjetti stood in front of her. "But how…" her voice trailed off.

"Something I did on Aquitar. I went to Phaedos not long after you and, well, here I am." Billy said with a smile. Before she could say anything else, he gave a nod back to the portal. "I'll take care of them. You have a rescue to complete."

"Right." Carri agreed, before turning and jumping through the portal.

Billy stood eye to eye with the Tengas. He knew he had to defeat them. If the Tengas got past him, they would most certainly destroy the dimensional portal device leaving Carri stuck in the other dimension. That would not bode well for the yellow ranger or the others.

He started to fight them. It was just like old times when he was a ranger, part of the team. Well even when he was not a ranger he was still a part of the team. However, here he was making a difference. He was taking Tengas out one by one. They were not too difficult, they never were. He just had to make sure they did not get near his machine.

He missed the fighting more than he thought he would. It was true that his skills are better put to use behind the scenes. Still, he enjoyed being out here on the battlefield, fighting the good fight. It was an odd thought, one that four years ago he never thought he would have had.

Billy finished off the last Tenga as he saw the others come through the portal. "You're back.", he greeted

"Piece of cake." Carri said with a smile as Rocky and Jason looked at each other surprised. Neither was expecting Billy to return, let alone with Ninjetti powers.

"Katherine!" Chris yelled, spotting the pink ranger as she came running toward them.

Kat slowed down as she approached the group, then went and gave Chris a hug. She felt horrible that he was captured because he was with her. "What happened?"

"This horrible monster captured me and threatened to kill you." He said with a frown. It was a horrible ordeal, and he was glad it was over.

"I had a monster chase me, but the gold ranger saved me." Kat told him. That was mostly true. If she was going to spend time with him, she knew that was going to be the first of many mostly truths.

"That's good." Chris said with a smile as he reached out and grabbed her hands. "I'd really miss you if something happened."

Surprised at first, Kat let him take a hold of her hands and she smiled back at him. "Me too." She said. She could not help but think that maybe she would like to try this thing between them. She watched as he leaned toward her, and did not try to stop him as he moved in for a kiss.

Billy saw the rest of the team mumbling things and shooting dirty looks in Kat's direction. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he didn't think it was good considering the last time he was home the pink and red rangers were a couple. Before anybody could say anything about that scene, Billy spoke.

"We need to return to the Power Chamber." Billy said, snapping the others back into the moment. He had no idea what had gone on in the time he had been on Aquitar. He thought Tommy and Kat were close when he left.

"Yes. We do." Carri said with a sigh as she grabbed a piece of his device while the blue Ninjetti grabbed the other, the two teleported off, leaving the other two ranger boys with the new happy couple.

Billy returned to the Power Chamber with Carri, and after trying to talk to Tommy and explaining the deal with the Ninjetti, it was time to face the inevitable. He supposedly had other things to attend to; he could not stay here with his friends forever.

"I need to be returning to Aquitar." Billy said as he looked over at the others. "I'm glad I could be of assistance today."

"Thank you Billy." Carri said as she leaned over and gave him a hug. The other rangers went to say goodbye as well, then Billy took off.

Billy closed his eyes as he remembered the hugs and the thank yous he got before he left. They needed him. They could not have done it without him. Back home, working closely with the power rangers, Billy felt wanted. He felt important, a part of something. He thought he would get that same feeling here on Aquitar especially with his girlfriend there with him. Of what use was he to them anymore? Apparently none.

Billy sat straight up on his bed. He knew what he had to do. Go home. He jumped up and went to grab the one suitcase he brought with him to Aquitar. It did not take long to throw his belongings back into it. They were all in one place. He supposed somewhere in the back of his mind he knew he was not going to stay there forever.

When he was finished, he went to find Cestria. She was outside, and he approached her from behind. "Cestria, we need to talk." He found that phrase amusing. On Earth, people always said no good came from it. He supposed no good was coming from it now.

Startled by the sudden visitor, Cestria took a moment before turning around and looking at him quizzically. "Is something wrong?"

"Well… yes." Billy replied as she made eye contact with him. "I am returning to Earth."

"Oh?" Cestria questioned as she titled her head sideways. "For how long?"

"Permanently." He replied. He felt good saying that. This was the best decision he had made in a long time.

"Billy you know I cannot live on Earth." She said, somewhat confused.

Billy nodded his head. "Since you are staying here I don't see that being a problem." Was this the right way of telling someone he was breaking up with them? He did not know, he had never done it before.

"Staying here?" Cestria repeated, watching as he shook his head yes in response. "Does this mean you no longer wish to be my mate?"

"I… well… yes." Billy said. He had to be honest about it. "I don't feel as though we are working out well."

"How could you come to that conclusion? We are happy together, we coexist quite well together." Cestria replied, genuinely confused.

"We did when I first came to Aquitar. I had a good experience with everybody. I was a part of things around here. You asked me for help. Now when I try to help I'm just told to go away, even by you." Billy explained his position to her.

"I do not understand Billy." Cestria said, her confusion continuing. "You are important to us."

"Perhaps once. Now I merely take up your space and time." Billy replied with a frown.

"You underestimate your importance here." Cestria assured him. When he said nothing, she continued. "What is it on Earth would make you think you were needed there?"

"My friends.", Billy replied quickly. That was not something he had to think about they needed him there.

"Your friends don't need you." Cestria assured him.

"My friends need me more than you think." He snapped. He should not have snapped, he knew it when he did it. However, he did not come here to have her try and make him feel less important. "They asked for my help last time they were in a bind. And I helped them."

"When was this?" Cestria asked. Billy was gone for such a short time she never realized he was missing.

"I went to Earth about two months ago. I'm surprised you didn't notice." Billy replied. He supposed he should not be surprised, this confirmed that they were not concerned with him there.

Cestria did not really have a response to that. "I'm sure they can carry on without you there."

"Yes and that's why they thanked me and said they couldn't do it without me. They thanked me Cestria. That is more than I get from you and the rest of your kind on this planet. They tell me I did not do it fast enough. On the other hand, when I say I fixed it all they say is oh. Do you know how long it has been since I have heard a thank you from them? I just don't feel appreciated around here anymore and I think my welcome wore out a long time ago."

"Billy don't you dare say that!", Cestria exclaimed. "Your friends don't need you. Remember how easily they let you go? You were expendable."

"Dammit Cestria you don't even know my friends so why don't you leave them alone!" Billy yelled quite uncharacteristically. However, this whole conversation was stressing him out and the fact that his ex-girlfriend was putting down the very people who he cared about made it worse. He knew why they let him go. They thought he would be happier on Aquitar. They thought the reminder that he could not be a ranger anymore was depressing him. It did at first, but now that he had been gone he could not imagine doing anything else but helping the rangers.

Billy crossed his arms over his chest and spoke. "I'm going back to somewhere that makes me feel appreciated. I'm going home." On that note, Billy headed off back to his room. He grabbed his bag and took off for a space ship that he created. The design was in the Power Chamber files and Billy built it thinking he could use it to get back and forth to Earth. He got in it and left quickly, without even saying goodbye to the others. Of course, they would figure out he left eventually.

As Billy traveled through space, he thought about everything he was going to get to do. He missed it all. He missed sparring with the guys, fixing things with Alpha, Ernie's smoothies. Most of all he just missed Earth. He could not wait to get home. He thought about calling ahead and letting the others know he was coming but he decided to surprise them.

Billy got into Earth's orbit and decided he was going to land his ship inside an old unused airplane hangar that belongs to his uncle. Nobody ever goes out there anymore so it will be safe. Just in case he covered it and made sure to lock the place before he left and started walking towards the local hotel, where he would be staying for the time being.

* * *

A young girl was walking along the beach looking out at the ocean. She had just gotten done putting her bags in a hotel. She pushed a strand of brown hair out of her face while she thought about what was going on. Here she was in Angel Grove. For good and coming back was probably the best idea she had in years.

She thought she would have been happy perusing her dream. She enjoyed her other activities there was no doubting that. However she missed being home, and recent adventures with her old friends reminded her how important that part of her life was. Although she could not be a full-fledged member of the team, she could still come home and hang out with her friends, and use her other powers to fight occasionally.

Thinking about what the future would bring made her smile as she walked down the beach. She stopped once she reached the ocean where the water was just covering her feet. She looked up and saw a male figure standing alone, probably thinking about being back just as she was.

"Billy!" she called out as she jogged over toward him. It had been a long time since she had seen the former ranger.

"Kim!" he exclaimed in surprise as he went to meet her.

The two embraced. "What are you doing here?" Kim asked as she let her friend go. "I thought you were on Aquitar."

"I was." Billy said. "But I just left today actually. I wanted to come home for good." Not wanting to get into the details of his departure, he changed subjects. "What about you, I thought you were training for the Olympics?"

Kim shook her head no. "Last week I quit. I had my glory in the Pan Globals. However, I wanted to go to college with my friends. I wanted a real life back home. That turned out to be more important than gymnastics." She said with a smile. "Now that I'm here I realize just how much I missed the place."

"Same here." Billy agreed. "So have you seen the others yet?"

"Not yet." Kim replied. Her first thought was to run right over and see her friends. When she realized she did not know how to explain her decision she decided to come out here and think it over. "I wanted to just sit here. Think for a while. Then I was going to go."

"What do you say we go to the Power Chamber and visit then?" Billy suggested. He had been out here long enough. He was ready to see everybody.

"Sure.", Kim agreed. She did not really get to think anything over, but they were her friends, so hopefully they got it. She reached out and linked her arm in Billy's, then the two of them teleported out.

* * *

"Alright that's it I'm getting ready to invent a new use for the baseball bat." Carri said slamming buttons out of frustration. They had been trying to figure this out for a few minutes now and were getting nowhere.

"We've got to work harder to get this back up. That monster could have destroyed everything by now and we wouldn't know." Tommy pointed out. As the team's leader, he did not like to be in this situation at all.

"No kidding." Carri replied, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. They were in the middle of a crisis, the response was in appropriate. Although she had told him before that, nothing was responding and she did not know how to work a miracle.

"Nothing." Rocky told them. He was on another console trying to work the problem out. "It says everything's down or doesn't exist." It was as if the whole thing had some sort of virus and had been shut down.

Billy and Kim teleported in and the former ranger heard enough of their conversation. Billy walked over and stood beside Carri, thinking for a second, as he looked everything over. He had seen this sort of problem before. He went to the back of the control panel and worked with something. A few minutes later, everything was back on line.

"Thanks Billy. We'd love to stay and chat but..." Jason pointed to the screen and the monster that was waiting for them.

"It's morphin time!" Tommy yelled.

"Zeo ranger one, pink!"

"Zeo ranger two, yellow!"

"Zeo ranger three, blue!"

"Zeo ranger four, green!"

"Zeo ranger five, red!"

Billy and Kim watched as their friends left to fight Rita and Zedd's forces. Kim giggled once they were gone. "I don't think they even noticed I was here."

"Well they were in the middle of a small crisis." Billy pointed out. He knew they had to have been frustrated not knowing what was going on. They were probably focused on trying to fix things and get back out there.

"They were until you saved the day. Good job Billy." Kim said, reaching over and squeezing his shoulder. She did not know how they survived without the former ranger for so long.

Billy blushed. He was not used to getting compliments any more. "Well eventually they would have figured out what was wrong."

"Yeah but you helped save the day. Where would they be without you?" Kim questioned, voicing her earlier thought aloud.

"I'm sure they'd be fine." Billy said as he blushed. He never had an answer to that question no matter how many times it got asked.

The two Ninjetti watched the viewing screen as their friends took care of the problem, which then grew to city wrecking size and they took care of it again. After defeating the monster, the other rangers came back.

"Kim?" Tommy questioned in shock. He could not believe she was there. He had thought about her a lot lately after his breakup with Kat. He wondered how long she was staying for.

"Yeah. I am back. For good actually." Kim replied, trying hard not to stare at her ex. He was in another relationship; she had no right to look at him the way she wanted. That was the only thing that made her not want to come home, but she missed everything else enough that she wanted to try to control her, to keep from making the same mistakes she did when the rangers visited in Florida.

"What about the Olympics?" Carri asked. Last time she checked, her friend was excited about training.

Kim shrugged. "They're not that big of a deal. I'd much rather be here anyways." Any good answer she thought about giving had not come to mind when she had to answer the question. She hoped they could understand why she was here instead of training back in Florida.

"Well we're glad to have you back." Kat replied honestly, grinning at the former ranger. Two months ago, she would have cursed the heavens for sending her boyfriend's ex back home. She knew the way Tommy looked at her, knew there were still feelings there. Now she could care less. Let Kim fawn over Tommy, she was happy with Chris.

"Thanks." Kim replied. She was not sure what Kat would think. After all, Kat had been her replacement, in many ways.

"What about you Billy, you here for vacation?" asked Jason. It was nice to see his friend, but as far as he knew, he was pretty settled on Aquitar.

"No I'm here for good as well." Billy replied with a smile.

"Really?" Rocky questioned. He thought things were going really well for Billy off world. "Things not work with Aquitar and Cestria?"

"Cestria and I weren't working as well as I thought we might. And I think I've done all the good I can do on Aquitar." Billy told him. He was not going to go into details. He felt embarrassed by the entire situation.

"Now that you guys are here you know that means you have to come with us to the big end of year party." Carri pointed out. It was New Year's Eve after all and nobody can go without partying that night.

"Where at?" asked Kim. She was all about going to a party. It would be just what she needed to kick off her coming home.

"The Palomino." Kat replied. That was the hottest nightclub near campus that allowed anybody eighteen or over to get in.

Kim's eyes lit up. She had heard of that place when she was looking into applying for school. "Count me in. But I need something to wear."

"I think we can handle that." Carri smiled. "If we can't find it in my closet there's always the mall." She almost hoped they could not find anything. She loved any excuse to go shopping.

"Oh boy. Maybe this isn't the best combination." Rocky groaned. When the two of them got together, they would disappear into the mall for hours. He did not get it, he did not know what they could possibly occupy themselves with for that long.

"Yeah man those two shouldn't be together." Jason teased. He knew both girls shopping habits. The rest of the team would be lucky to see them again.

"Whatever." Kim replied with a roll of her eyes before turning her attention toward her friend. "You're coming too Billy, right?"

"I don't see why not." Billy said as he nodded. This was part of what he missed about being here. He could hang out with his friends. That was definitely something he did not have on Aquitar. He had the other rangers, but it just was not the same.

"Come on Kim, the party starts in a couple of hours and if we want to get you a good outfit..." Carri's voice trailed off as she grinned at her friend.

"That's all you've got to say to get me to go." Kim said as she grinned back. Then she grabbed Carri so she could hitch a ride and the two girls' teleported out.

Tommy smiled. "This is going to be great having you guys here again. I really missed it." He missed having Billy around the Power Chamber and Kim… well he just really missed her period.

"Yeah almost like the good old days." Jason said thinking wishfully. Things were so much simpler freshman year. They were all best friends that were chosen to save the world. Although he was close with the new rangers, he missed the early days sometimes.

"Only I'm here this time. Which makes it better." Rocky was quick to point out.

"And on that note I'm going to work out." Jason said. In many ways, things were better now. He was not going to say that, instead he was just going to leave.

"Right behind you bro." Tommy told him as the two of them left.

"Kat what do you say we show Billy around campus?" Rocky asked. He figured their friend would be interested in a tour of the school. After all, he was the academic one.

"I promised Chris I'd meet him at the café." Kat said. She wanted to show Billy around, but she could not ditch her boyfriend. Rocky nodded and she waved goodbye and took off.

"Well Billy how about I show you around campus." Rocky suggested as he turned toward his friend.

"Sounds like fun." Billy replied, and with that, the two took off for USC.

* * *

Kim and Carri walked into Carri's dorm room. The pink Ninjetti looked around for a moment. It was small, but otherwise she liked it. "Nice place." Kim said.

Carri shrugged. "It's alright. Next semester I am moving to an off campus apartment though. I think I'd like that better." By like that better she meant she was dying to get out of the dorm and away from her roommate.

"By yourself?" asked Kim. That seemed like it would take all of the fun out of college life, living alone.

"Well Kat and her roommate are becoming best friends these days. Rocky claims it is too expensive and he likes his dorm and his roommate anyways since he is with Tommy. In addition, Tommy says the same thing. Jason is on board though. What about you, where are you staying?" Carri asked as a thought popped into her head.

"I'm staying in a hotel actually. So is Billy." Kim replied. Billy did not want to go home, and if Kim was getting ready to start classes, she certainly was not moving in with her father in Stone Canyon.

"Kim that's crazy." Carri told her. "You and Billy should join me and Jase in the apartment." It was a four-bedroom apartment, with four separate leases. They had not asked anybody to room with them yet. They were rangers; they did not want to be sneaking out of the apartment around their roommates. However, the complex demanded that the other two rooms get filled. Neither had a good idea how to get that done considering all the other rangers turned them down.

Kim nodded. "I think I might just do that." It would be a lot of fun to room with Carri and Jason.

"Good." She replied; glad to have part of that issue settled. "Anyways you've got all this to choose from." Carri said, going back to the matter at hand, as she opened her closet door. "Well except this." She said gesturing to her outfit.

"I'm jealous." Kim said, as she looked the outfit over. "But I'm sure there are good picks in here."

Christy Filar, Carri's roommate walked in before Kim started going through the closet. "Getting ready for the party?" She asked as she looked at the duo.

"Yeah. You should come." Carri told her, knowing good and well the other girl had no interest in a party.

Christy shook her head no. "Boys, alcohol, I'll only get myself in trouble. You should not go either you know. Who knows what's going to happen to you." College was not safe. The only thing to do was keep her head down and focus on her studies.

"Uh-huh sure. Anyways Kim let's keep looking at clothes for that party we're going to so we can get drunk and screw." She said deliberately angering and shocking her roommate.

"You joke about that now but you wait. It's going to be very dangerous." Christy said. Her roommate was going to get attacked or worse, and she was not going to be surprised.

Glancing over at Kim, Carri rolled her eyes. "We are going to bring in ninety eight with a bang."

Christy flopped down on her bed. "Just remember what I'm saying." She was not going to argue the point anymore. Carri will not listen, she never does.

"Now you know why I want out." Carri grumbled, not caring if Christy heard her or not.

Kim snorted in response. She could not blame her. She would have gone crazy if she had to listen to that all semester. However with her roommate sitting right there she was not going to say anything. Instead, she turned her full attention to Carri's wardrobe in hopes of finding the perfect outfit for the party.

* * *

Billy and Rocky were walking around on campus, Rocky pointing out a few of the more important buildings here and there. "The library's over there, but I think you know that already." Rocky said with a grin as he gestured toward it.

The former blue ranger smiled. "I remember getting my parents to drive me up here to go to the library on weekends." He used to love hanging out in the college library. He'd read college level science texts, debate theories with PhD candidates who were spending their weekends buried in books… it was fun.

"That really paid off for you." Rocky pointed out.

"Maybe. It all depends on how you look at it. It got me out of school early and gave me the opportunity to work with Alpha closely in the Power Chamber, but it also pulled me away from my friends. You guys were still in high school and were so busy with school related activities that I hardly got to see you. Then I made the mistake of thinking I'd be happier on Aquitar..." Billy's voice trailed off. It occurred to him that he should not have opened that door. He did not want to talk about Aquitar. He wanted to put it behind him.

"I thought you were happy." Rocky said with a confused look. He still remembered the excited look on his friend's face when he told the others he was staying.

"I was... for a while. Towards the end though I was feeling, well, useless there. I guess I taught them all I knew and there was nothing left for me to do." Billy said with a shrug. That was the best way he could explain himself.

Rocky nodded, and then asked another question. "So what about Cestria?" That was Billy's girlfriend; he could not imagine the former ranger would have come home if they were still together.

"A relationship not meant to work out. Whom was I kidding anyway? I mean she is Aquitarian and I am human. Somehow, I don't think our two races were ever meant to be involved, not in that way anyway. Plus we were too different when it all came right down to it." Billy paused. "Speaking of relationships, how's yours going?" he asked, quickly changing the topic. He did not want to talk about Cestria anymore.

Rocky stopped for a second not expecting that question, but he quickly continued. "My relationship? With Carri?" he asked. Billy nodded and the blue ranger continued. "It's going fine. We've been together almost a year and a half now."

"Has it been that long?" Billy questioned. Rocky shook his head yes. "That was the beginning of senior year. It seems just like yesterday." He could not believe that much time had passed since the beginning of senior year.

"Yeah." Rocky agreed. Their one-year anniversary came up and he almost forgot. He could not believe it was there already. Fortunately, Carri had not been expecting any sort of big romantic gesture. "Makes you wonder where the time goes."

They walked a little further and ended up at about the same place they started out. "And so ends our tour. I would show you more but I've got to go get ready, I'm taking Carri to dinner tonight before the party." Rocky said with a grin.

"Have fun." Billy replied, and then he and Rocky exchanged their goodbyes before taking off in opposite directions.

* * *

Rocky and Carri arrived later that night in the hotel lobby that Billy and Kim were staying in and were quickly spotted by their friends. "Hey." Kim greeted as she and Billy walked over toward the duo.

"Hey guys." Rocky replied, as he looked the two Ninjetti over. "Kim, you look nice. And that dress looks familiar." He said with a grin.

Carri giggled. "Could be because it's mine." Of course, she was certain Rocky had guessed that. After all, she had taken Kim to rummage through her closet.

"Duh." Rocky replied. His girlfriend reached over and gave him a playful shove and he laughed at her. Before she could take it further, he spoke. "Come on guys let's get going."

The four left the hotel and got into Rocky's car before heading for the Palomino. It was a short distance into the club, and filled with lots of female gossip that made Billy and Rocky groan. Before the boys thought they were going to go insane, they made it to the club where the party had already begun.

Carri went inside and quickly spotted two of their friends across the dance floor. "Hey Jase!" she called out, loudly enough to get his attention.

Jason and Emily walked towards the group of four. "Hey everybody." Jason greeted. Everyone else said hello, however Kim stood there for a while looking at Emily curiously.

"Jason aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" Emily asked as she eyed the other woman. He obviously was not going to conclude on his own that, he needed to introduce them.

Jason had a blank look on his face for a second. "Oh wait you haven't met have you?" he questioned. Emily shook her head no. "Kim, this is my girlfriend Emily. Em, I'd like for you to meet Kimberly Hart."

Kim extended her hand. "Nice to meet you." She said. It was about time she met Jason's girlfriend. She had heard of her before, but they were never in the same place at the same time. It was weird, a few years ago Kim would have found out everything about Jason's love interest before he ever asked a girl out.

"Same here." Emily replied shaking her hand.

Before Emily could add anything, Tommy approached the group. "Hey guys."

"Hey bro." Jason said.

Kim smiled at her former boyfriend. "Hey Tommy."

"Hey Kim. You look great." Tommy said smiling back at her. She looked more than great she looked amazing. However he had just broken up with Kat, he was not ready to say that to her yet.

"Thanks." Kim replied blushing slightly. "So, where's Kat?" she asked. She had to ask about the other pink ranger. It would keep her grounded; remind her that she could not get all mushy over a compliment from Tommy.

"I don't know, I haven't seen her yet." Tommy replied, finding it odd that Kim was inquiring about his ex-girlfriend.

"Is that her?" Billy asked pointing to the blonde-haired person in the distance that looked to be coming their way.

"Yeah. At least that's Chris I recognize the hair." Carri said with a snort. She caught the look on Kim's face and realized that she was going to have to fill her in later. They had been so busy since Kat and Tommy broke up that she had not really had time to tell Kim all about it. An email would not suffice; she wanted to talk to her friend. She thought she would have time to get to it, but apparently, she was wrong.

"You pick on him too much considering you hardly know the guy." Rocky pointed out.

Carri shot him a look. "I know him enough." She knew more about him than she would care to considering she was friends with his ex. If what Mollie said was right, she'd never like the guy. However, she would give him a chance for Kat. "Besides when he's around I'm not picking on the rest of you as much. Of course I could just leave him be.

"Considering you get picked on a whole lot more than any of us it doesn't really matter to me." Rocky teased as he put an arm around her and pulled her toward him, kissing the top of her head.

"Hello." Kat said as she and Chris approached everyone. Chris simply waved to greet the others.

Tommy was the first one to say hi back, and everyone else echoed him.

Kat noticed Chris looking around the group. "Chris you remember Emily right?"

"Yeah I do. Never forget a face. Name maybe but not face." Chris replied smiling and nodding in Emily's direction.

Kat smiled. "Well then I know you haven't met Billy Cranston and Kimberly Hart. You guys this is my boyfriend Chris Black." She was happy to be able to introduce him to her friends as her boyfriend. She liked Chris a lot, and she knew he liked her, and only her.

"Good meeting you." Chris said shaking both of their hands.

Kim stopped to think about what Kat just said. Her boyfriend? She noticed Tommy's expression when she mentioned their status. It must not have been a good breakup between the two. She was dying to know what happened. She looked over at Carri, silently asking why her friend had not filled her in on this before. Her friend mouthed later in response and Kim nodded.

After the initial meeting, the group chatted for a while before going out on the dance floor. All night they were running around talking to everyone and dancing, or at least attempting to dance. Before they knew it, it was time to ring in the New Year. Carri and Rocky were holding each other on the dance floor when the countdown began, where they had just finished a dance. Jason and Emily were doing much the same, while Kat and Chris were standing alone together in a corner, Chris saying something that made Kat laugh. Kim stood between Billy and Tommy, neither of which had a date for the night.

"Ten... nine... eight... seven... six... five... four... three... two... one... HAPPY NEW YEAR!" the crowd yelled loudly. The couples kissed and Kim gave both of the guys beside her kisses on the cheek. The rangers and their friends reconvened, giving each other hugs and wishing everyone Happy New Year as the non-alcoholic Champaign were getting passed out.

Kat, Chris, Carri, Rocky, Jason, Emily, Tommy, Kim and Billy stood in a circle, Champaign glasses in hand. Tommy held his up. "Now that we've got some old friends back it looks like we have something to look forward to this year." He said, locking eyes briefly with Kim before turning back toward the others. "To the new year." He toasted.

He was echoed by his friends. The glasses clashed and everybody drank as 1998 rolled in leaving the group of friends happier than they had been in a while.


	19. Link to the Past

**Disclaimer:** The Power Rangers belong to Saban. Characters from Hercules and Xena belong to Universal. Everyone else belongs to me.

Ranger Scrolls  
"Link to the Past"

"I won't let you win!" He yelled as he stared the goddess down. She thought she had the upper hand but he was not going to let her get away with it.

"You can't stop me." Callisto replied a crazy look in her eye as she brought her hand back.

He looked at the woman he was with, the one he was there to protect. His look was that of someone who was deathly afraid of what could happen. He knew what Callisto could do. "Let's go." He said grabbing her arm and leading her off.

Callisto threw fireball after fireball at the duo yet they were managing to dodge them. Finally, he found a barn and led her into it. "Stay here I'm going to face Callisto." He said as he guided her to a sitting position against the back wall of the barn.

She nodded. She had no choice, not only did she fear for her life but the life of her unborn son. She was seconds away from both of them dying a fiery death. This stranger was obviously here to help and she had to trust him.

He ran out of the barn and came face to face with Callisto. Reaching to his side, he pulled out a dagger covered in blood. Hinds blood to be exact. The goddess knew exactly what he had in his hand as he came running after her. She countered everything he had easily. He brought the dagger close to her several times. Eventually she pushed him back and she was on the offense. She kicked the dagger away from him, into a stack of hay. As he bent down to get it, she used a fireball to set the barn on fire, killing the woman.

He stood up and looked on in horror, but there was nothing he could do. Well there was one thing, and that was to follow her though time and try to stop her. She left and with one final glance at the burning building, he followed.

Jason awoke from this dream. It was not the only one he had like this - in fact it was one in a line of many. He felt like the guy in the dream, the one always facing Callisto. It felt like a memory to him only he never experienced it before. It was odd and he could not help but wonder if it was related to the team's fights against the goddess. Jason got up and got dressed before teleporting to the Power Chamber. If anybody could analyze these dreams, it would be Zordon and Alpha.

* * *

Someone was hunting her. She was not even sure that was the worst of her troubles. She knew what to expect from the one hunting her. However, she was forced to work with Callisto, who would easily betray her for her own personal gain. She was not sure when or how her betrayal would come and that was almost more frightening than getting chased.

"We need to get her onto the rope bridge." Her best friend said as she surveyed the situation.

She nodded. She headed toward the bridge along with her best friend and Callisto but her predator stopped them. She created a whirlwind in order to suck in her prey. Callisto hid and the only person who was there to help her was her best friend. In fact if it had not been for her she would have died. Soon enough the whirlwind died and they could continue on their original mission. To get both Callisto and her predator onto the rope bridge and trap both of them in the lava pit below.

"You know she's after you." Callisto pointed out, a sticky sweet smile crossing her face. "You should be the bait."

"No." Her best friend was quick to respond. That was not how this worked; she was not going to let that happen.

"She's right." She said with a frown. She did not want to be bait, but it was the most logical choice. "She is after me. I'll go ahead on the bridge and Callisto you can come and fight her."

Reluctantly her best friend nodded and Callisto did not bother to contain her excitement. She went ahead and walked onto the rope bridge to lure her enemy out. Sure enough it worked. Her enemy followed her onto the bridge and managed to throw her off so she was hanging from the rope facing the lava below.

Callisto jumped onto the bridge and stretched her hand out to her. "Give it to me."

She looked at her best friend, who was standing on land waiting to cut the rope so both Callisto and her enemy will be taken care of. "Go ahead and give it to her."

She did not want to give their enemy the advantage, but she did not see that she had much choice. She tossed her the pouch that held the ambrosia. Callisto ate it and immediately became a goddess. Then she attacked the predator.

As she hung from the rope and watched the two goddesses, fight she knew what had to get done. "Cut the rope!"

Hesitant at first, her best friend did what she knew needed to do and cut the rope. Both goddesses fell into the lava pit. Then her best friend saved her life.

For the fifth time that week, Kim awoke from one of her dreams involving Callisto. She tried to shake it off but she could not. It was real... yet it was not. For her own sanity, Kim needed to figure out what all this meant. She got dressed and teleported to the Power Chamber.

* * *

He was not really a warrior. Yes, he dressed the part but when it came down to fighting skills, he just did not have them and he knew it. However, the girl he was in love with was trapped along with her friend and he knew he had to save them. Maybe he lacked the skill of the others but courage and caring is something he had plenty of. It was that alone which led him into the cave of Callisto and her men.

Sneaking in to the best of his ability, he drew his sword and walked up to Callisto who was facing one of her captures. Before he got there, her warriors stopped him. "Let them go." He said, his voice showing more bravery than he actually felt.

Callisto turned to him and laughed. He knew he was in trouble. However he also knew that Callisto was distracted enough for his love's friend to take her weapon back from Callisto without Callisto knowing.

As he backed up nervously, he got hit with an arrow. It went through his shoulder and knocked him into a pole. He turned his head in time to see what was happening to his love. She was tied to another pole with wood all around the bottom, and the wood was lit on fire. However, her friend would not have that. Using the weapon of hers that she stole back from Callisto, she freed herself and her friend. Then she and Callisto got into a fight. They ran outside onto the beach and were followed by all of Callisto's warriors, leaving him and his love alone.

His love jumped over the burning wood and went to help him. She sighed; she knew he was risking his life by running in like that. Of course, she had risked her life coming in as well. She let him lean on her as they headed out of the cave and around the side looking for a safe spot to stay at until her friend came back. He looked down at her thinking about how beautiful she was. He only wished she felt the same way about him.

Billy Cranston woke up and shook his head. He was having similar dreams. They were strange yet familiar and he could not quite figure out why. There was one place Billy went to when he did not have the answers and that was to Zordon. The former blue ranger got dressed and teleported to the Power Chamber.

* * *

Zordon looked at the three teens who were trying to tell him about their dreams. "I believe I know why you are all having these strange dreams." He had been expecting this for some time. The dreams came as no surprise, nor the fact they were all tied to Callisto.

"Why?" Jason questioned. He was tired of the strange dreams. He had enough to worry about between Rita, Zedd and his college classes. Hopefully Zordon could help them make the dreams stop.

"Your adventures are taking place through the eyes of your ancestors. You are reliving their memories." Zordon explained.

Billy thought on that for a moment. "Why are we connected to our ancestors this way?

"And why with Callisto?" Kim questioned. She did not want to dream about fighting the goddess. She had come across her in real life that was more than enough for her.

Alpha walked over to the trio. "It has to do with your becoming Ninjetti's."

Billy frowned at the robot's response. "If it is directly related to our Ninjetti powers, why are the others not having the same dreams?"

"The other rangers have all met their ancestors and are already connected to them." Alpha explained. Their Ninjetti powers strengthened their connection with their past, and it was magnified with them sharing a common enemy with their ancestors.

"How do we find out who our ancestors are?" Billy questioned. He wanted to know whose eyes he looked through at night.

"What about the dreams?" Jason added. He honestly could care less whom he is related to, he just wanted the dreams to stop.

"Yeah." Kim chimed in. "How do we stop them? And I still want to know why Callisto is involved."

"Callisto is involved because she was your ancestors' common enemy as she is yours." Zordon explained. Their ancestor's conflict with Callisto was why the goddess sought them out to begin with. The fight has now grown to a personal vendetta against his rangers; however, that was not how it started. "To stop your dreams you must meet your ancestors to complete the connection."

"How do we do that?" Jason asked. It was not as if they had a time machine lying around. The one time his teammates went into the past it was an accident.

Zordon looked over the three of them. They were three of the best rangers he had ever seen. He knew what they had to do and that if Callisto was involved that it might be dangerous. It was possible that Zedd may find out and try to stop them. There would not be a way for the other rangers to help, but he had to let them it, was the only way to stop the dreams. "You must travel back in time."

"Time travel?" Kim questioned. It was not easy but she had ended up in the past twice. Once when a portal opened around her and sucked her into Angel Grove's Wild West, and once when the Wizard of Deception sent them back to their colonial past.

"It will not be easy." Zordon warned. He knew that his pink ranger already experienced time travel. He also knew that this would not be the last time for her; however that was something she would find out one day on her own.

Jason nodded. He would not expect it to be easy. Nothing about being a ranger was ever easy. "We have to do it though."

"Should we alert the others?" Billy asked. He felt their friends should know where they were going.

"No we will let them sleep for now and tell them in the morning." Alpha replied. There was no point in waking them up. They needed their rest for whatever this next day would bring. The three Ninjetti nodded in agreement.

"Rangers to travel in time you must go to Triforia and meet with Trey. He can take you to the Time Stone and send you back. But it will be up to you to come back to the present." Zordon explained. There were several ways they could get back in time but this was going to be one of the easiest.

The three rangers who were looking intently at him nodded. They stood there and looked at Alpha. "We're ready when you are." Jason said. They watched as the little robot started tinkering with the controls, altering the long-range teleporters, before sending them on their way.

* * *

Trey greeted the rangers upon arrival on Triforia. "Welcome. Zordon has already told me of your mission."

"So you'll help us?" Jason questioned. He assumed the Gold Ranger would assist them. He always said that he was forever in their debt.

"Of course I will." the Triforian replied. As long as he was capable, he was going to assist Zordon's rangers. "Follow me."

Kim noticed the acknowledgement between Jason and the man in black standing before them. Apparently he knew him, but had not bothered to introduce them. As they walked off, she grabbed Jason's arm and tugged him back with her, leaning in to whisper to him. "And you know this guy how?"

"He is the Gold Ranger." Jason explained. The thought had not occurred to him that Kim never met Trey. The one time they both worked on something together, Trey was not on the surface long enough for them to have had introductions. Kim raised an eyebrow and Jason elaborated. "He's the ranger whose powers I held." Jason explained

Kim nodded. She sorta fought with the Gold Ranger once, although she never actually met him or saw him un-morphed. They were both borrowed rangers at the time, there only long enough to fight before taking off and returning home.

"Zordon said it's up to us to find our way back." Billy spoke up from the back of the line. "Do you know how we could do that?"

Trey led them towards some caves. "Yes and no. I know of the area of time you are traveling back to in order to find the answers you seek. The people of that time will not let you stay there for long - only long enough to see what you need to know."

"So then they will see to it that we are returned to our time?" Billy asked.

"I can only assume they will." Trey replied. "In here rangers." The trio followed Trey into a cave and he led them to the Time Stone. "This is the Time Stone. If you will stand around it I will be able to speak the spell to send you to the desired time."

The rangers nodded and formed a circle around the Time Stone. Trey started chanting some words in another language and before they knew it the world around them became black and they disappeared.

* * *

"I'm telling you Herc we need a vacation." Iolaus tried once again to convince his best friend to a nice get away. If they were going to keep on this pace, they needed to get away for a while.

"Last vacation we went on lasted all of two minutes before we went to save somebody." Hercules reminded him as they went walking through the woods. A vacation was nice in theory, but for them it was never going to work out.

Iolaus jumped out in front of Hercules and started to walk backwards and talk. "I know of a pond where nobody can find us. We can fish there for a few days." He said, his voice hopeful.

Hercules gave his friend a look. "So how do the people need our help find us?"

Sighing, Iolaus turned around just in time to face someone before he ran into them. "Sorry about that." He said extending his hand to help the guy up.

Jason took it. "No problem." He said. Then he stared at Iolaus curiously. The voice sounded familiar. He sounded like the man from his dreams.

Iolaus noticed him staring and stared back. "Do I know you?" He asked. This man was looking at him like he knew who he was.

"No. I'm from... well..." Jason's voice trailed off. How in the hell was he going to explain this one?

"The future right?" Hercules asked as a feeling of déjà vu washed over him. Jason looked stunned that he knew. "I seem to remember a scene exactly like that a few weeks ago between me and my descendant."

"Oh you mean that power hero with the long hair and"

"Tommy." Jason spoke up, interrupting Iolaus. He could have been wrong, but the red ranger was the only ranger he knew who fit "power hero with long hair".

Hercules nodded. "And I'm guessing you're not here on a social visit."

"No... not really.", Jason replied with a frown. "My friends and I were sent back in time to find our ancestors, to stop the dreams we were having."

"What kind of dreams?" Hercules asked. If he got dropped here near them, it was possible they could help.

Jason thought for a moment, trying to decide where to start. He concluded that the freshest dream was the best. "In my latest dream I was being chased through a field by Callisto. I helped some woman get to a barn and I went to kill Callisto only I failed and she destroyed the barn."

"Hey that's me!" Iolaus exclaimed, flashes of that adventure coming back to him. "I mean that's my memory. I was trying to stop Callisto from killing Herc's mother before he was born."

"Which means your descendant is," Hercules paused and turned toward their visitor. In all this, they never got the man's name. "I'm sorry what is your name?"

"Jason." He said. For a moment, he thought this was going to be easier than he assumed it would. Then again, he was a ranger and nothing every came that easily.

"Well I'm Iolaus and this is Hercules." He said doing a quick introduction. It was somewhat odd to meet your descendant. Now he knew how Herc felt the last time they had visitors from the future.

"Come on." Hercules said walking off. "We'll help you find your friends." The others were all related to people he knew, he had a good idea where to start this search.

Iolaus sighed as he and Jason followed him. "There went that vacation."

* * *

Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa stood in their palace while they spied on the rangers of Earth. "Looks like Zordon sent some of those goody two shoes away." Rita said making a face.

"The team is now short one member." Zedd pointed out as he checked in on the other four rangers. It was four am on Earth and the remainder of the team was sound asleep.

"Now is the perfect time for an attack." Rita pointed out. They were short a ranger, and by the time they were awake enough to realize what was going on it would be too late.

"Yes but this has to be good." Zedd agreed with his wife but he was not about to rush down there just for the sake of starting an attack. It was the halfcocked plans that left them hanging their heads in shame. "We want to take out the four power pests that are left and conquer Earth so the others won't have anything to come home to."

"Hey Ed just give me a couple of Tengas and send me down. I will take care of them." Rito said entering midway through the conversation. He always loved a good chance to play with the rangers.

Zedd snickered. "I'm sure you would. Just like you've taken care of the rangers in the past." He said as he shot his brother-in-law a look. "And it's Zedd you incompetent moron."

Rito mumbled something under his breath but whatever he said was lost when Goldar spoke up. "Lord Zedd, I am looking forward to a fight with the Power Rangers. It is time they were finished."

"How about we get Finster to make us a mold then we make it powerful." Rita suggested, watching as her husband nodded in agreement. "Finster!" she screeched.

Upon hearing Rita, Finster came out of his lab and scurried into the main room. "Yes?"

"Make me a monster mold. And make it good." She gave the same order she had given countless times.

"What kind of monster would you like?" Finster questioned. He was not going to throw together a mold. He wanted direction; otherwise, she would hold him entirely responsible if it failed.

"Anything that will take out the rangers." she told him. She trusted Finster. He knew what kind of monster she was looking for. She made contact with him and Finster nodded before hurrying off to get started on Zedd and Rita's latest idea.

* * *

Joxer was walking down a dirt path. He started adjusting his helmet as he hummed the tune of his favorite song. Then he started sing, his voice soft. "He's Joxer the mighty he roams through the countryside with Gabby as his sidekick fighting with her little stick he's Joxer he's Joxer the mighty." He started humming the tune again when someone came out of the bushes at him.

"Hold it right there." Joxer said in a semi threatening tone as he tried to look the other man in the eye.

Billy threw his hands up. "I'm not here to hurt anyone." He assured him as he shifted his stance. He did not think the other man was going to attack him, but he could not be sure.

"Who are you?" Joxer questioned looking at him strangely. He was not dressed like anyone he had ever seen before. Perhaps he came from a village far away. Even if that was the case, he was odd.

"Billy." He replied, relaxing a bit as the man in front of him relaxed too.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Joxer." He said extending his hand, which Billy promptly shook. "So... where are you from?" He wanted to get that part out of the way. He knew there was no way he was from around here.

Billy glanced down at the clothes he was wearing. Perhaps they had made an error in judgment, jumping back to the past wearing fashions from the current year. "I'm," he paused, his brows furrowing as he tried to come up with a logical response, "well you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Believe me as a warrior I've seen more than my fair share of strange stuff." Joxer assured him. He doubted anything he said could throw him. After all, he was Joxer the mighty.

The blue Ninjetti thought about that for a moment. He doubted he had seen anything this strange, but he supposed the only way to find out anything would be to tell the truth. "I'm from the future."

Joxer made a face. "Future?" He questioned. "What are you doing here?"

"I was sent back to find my ancestor." Billy replied, somewhat surprised that he moved on to why he was here instead of asking how he got there or if he was crazy.

"Oh. Well follow me I can help you look." Joxer said. He did not know why, but he had an overwhelming urge to help them. He turned to continue down the dirt path and a second later Billy was at his side. "So how do you know who this guy is?"

Billy shook his head. "I don't." That was going to make this task a bit more difficult than he would like. "All I know about him is what I can see through his eyes."

"Sounds creepy." Joxer said. He did not want any creepy connections with his ancestors. Who knew what you would see.

"Not really." Billy told him. Now that he knew what it was, the phenomenon was actually fascinating. Part of him wanted to hook himself and his friends up to a machine and analyze the dreams; however getting them to stop was the most logical course of action. "It's rather interesting. Like last night, I was him in a dream where he went after this goddess - Callisto - in order to save his friends. Only he was shot with an arrow and taken out of there by the woman he loved."

Joxer suddenly stopped. "That sounds familiar." He paused, his nose scrunched up as he thought about it. Suddenly it hit him. "Wait a second here I know why that story sounds familiar. I went into a cave once with Callisto and her warriors in order to save Xena and Gabrielle. Only she wasn't a goddess then."

"That means I'm seeing things through your eyes. So you're my ancestor." Billy said, following his train of thought to the logical conclusion.

"Hey cool." Joxer said. He did not know how it happened, but it was awesome to meet some of his kin. Maybe he could pass along his warrior wisdom. "So what now?"

For once Billy did not really have a solid answer. "I don't know. I suppose I am should follow you."

"So you can be my temporary sidekick." Joxer told him, somewhat liking the idea. "But as soon as we run into Gabrielle she gets her position back."

Billy agreed not quite knowing what Joxer was talking about, but he figured it would be best to follow him anyway. He had to assume that his best chance at finding his way home was to stick with his ancestor.

* * *

Three remaining rangers plus one were meeting at a local café before class. Kat was sitting on one side of the booth, her boyfriend Chris next to her, and Rocky and Carri on the other side.

Tommy walked into the restaurant and immediately spotted his friends. He walked over and slid into the booth next to Carri. There was no way he was sliding in on the other side with his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend. He immediately noted that Carri was there without her roommates. "Where are the others?" He asked. He was hoping to see Kim this morning. He was thrilled that she had come home and was going to school with them. He missed her and he was almost glad that Kat broke up with him before Kim came home, although he had not told her that yet.

Carri shrugged. "They were gone long before I got up. I never heard them leave." Since second semester started, Carri, Kim, Jason and Billy had been sharing an off campus apartment.

"They probably went out and partied all night long." Chris suggested, grinning as he looked over at his girlfriend.

Carri rolled her eyes, a motion that was missed by both Kat and Chris as the pink ranger giggled. "Those three don't do that. Unlike some other people I know." She said playfully, teasing her boyfriend.

Chris made a face. "Hey I don't do that. At least I haven't in a while."

"They probably just went out to the library or something." Rocky commented as their waitress walked over and put several drinks down on the table, pausing briefly to take Tommy's order.

As the red ranger ordered, Carri leaned over and smelled her coffee. "Mmmm French Vanilla. Caffeine. Time to wake up." She thought about ordering a few shots of espresso. She hated early morning classes.

"I hope breakfast gets here soon. I'm starving." Rocky said, taking a sip of his drink before leaning back into the booth.

"Go figure." Tommy replied with a chuckle. He gave up on the blue ranger and food. He packed away a lot however, his metabolism more than made up for it.

Kat and Carri snickered. Chris smiled. He may be new to this group, but he had already noticed the fact that Rocky eats. A lot, and manages to stay in really good shape.

"Don't you guys know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day?" Rocky questioned. It did not really bother him that the others gave him grief about how much he ate. He was in great shape, and he figured why not take advantage of his youth.

"That's what he says about lunch and dinner too." Carri pointed out as she turned toward the others and rolled her eyes.

"You think you're funny. All of you. You just wait. I'll get you." Rocky said his tone serious. However, the smile on his face gave him away and the others at the table grinned in response.

Before they could get any further into their morning, their communicators chirped. Carri put her head down on the table. "It's too early." She griped, not quite ready to face a monster yet this morning. She took a deep breath before sitting straight up, and those who were paying attention noticed the shift in her attitude. Want to do it or not, she was ready to go out there and kick ass if that was what the day called for.

"For what?" Chris questioned, completely oblivious to their communicators.

"School. Being up." Kat lied. She was getting really good at lying and she hated it. However if she was going to stay with Chris she had no choice. She had no plans on changing her relationship status so the lies had to continue.

"I second that. But there's not much we can do about it." Chris said, watching, as Kat's cousin suddenly looked fired up for something. He was not sure what to think about her. He did not get her, she was weird and he was not sure if she liked him. Then again, the rest of Kat's friends seemed somewhat weird so maybe Kat was the only normal one.

Tommy stood up. "Come on guys let's get going." He said, the tone in his voice showing him as the red ranger moving his team out as opposed to the college student who was just sitting there having breakfast.

"So early?" Chris asked. Breakfast hadn't even been served yet. Weird did not cover it.

"We were going to talk to one of the professors." Rocky said as he nudged Carri out of the booth and followed behind her. He was somewhat disappointed that they were leaving before his breakfast got served but they were rangers first.

Kat mouthed the words "I'll catch up" as her friends went to answer their communicators.

* * *

Xena walked back to her campsite and threw a rope with some fish on one end at her best friend. "There."

Gabrielle, who wasn't paying attention, looked up suddenly and got hit by the fish, putting her arms around them as a reflex reaction. She scrunched her nose up as she grabbed the rope and held the fish out. "Great. Just great."

"What? You said if I'd catch them you'd cook them." Xena said quizzically as she went and had a seat.

"Do you know how hard it is to get the fish smell out of your clothes? I'm going to smell like breakfast all week." Gabrielle complained as she went to put the fish in a pan. She hated the fish smell.

Xena smiled and shrugged as she walked off. Gabrielle made a face as she started to cook. "Of course it isn't of any importance to Xena." She said talking to herself. "I mean she's not the one who..." Suddenly she heard a noise in the bushes. "Who's there?" She questioned reaching for her staff. "I'm warning you I..."

Gabrielle stopped when a female walked out of the woods. "Look I don't want any trouble." Kim said, eyeing the staff that was pointed in her direction.

"I'm sorry it's just a habit. Most of the time when I hear someone in the bushes it's because they are trying to attack." Gabrielle apologized putting her staff down. She looked at the stranger in front of her and noticed her outfit. "Something about this seems awfully familiar."

Kim looked at her strangely. There was something about this person; she just could not put her finger on it. She thought about it for a moment before she spoke. "No we haven't met before."

"I know I haven't met you. But... maybe it's the outfit. Something about you brings back memories I just can't come up with what." Gabrielle told her as she eyed the small swatches of fabric she was wearing and trying to pull off as clothes.

"Remember," Xena started coming back into the clearing, "You look more available than the girls that work for Meg." She knew exactly why this scene felt familiar.

Gabrielle's eyes lit up. "That's it. You remind me of her."

"Who?" Kim questioned, wondering what in the world was going on here.

"That girl... oh what was her name..." Gabrielle's voice trailed off as she struggled to come up with it.

"Carri." Xena replied glancing at the still raw fish. "Aren't you supposed to be cooking?" she asked, more concerned with breakfast at the moment.

"Well I kind of got interrupted." Gabrielle pointed out, jerking a finger in Kim's direction.

"I know Carri." Kim piped up, going back to Xena's comment. At least she assumed it was her friend they were talking about. It would make sense.

"This means you're from the future." Xena pointed out taking the fish and shoving it into Gabrielle's hands.

Gabrielle huffed as she put her arms around the fish, then she turned and went to cook. "Don't take this the wrong way, but why are you here?"

"To find my ancestor." Kim replied, hoping that if they knew Carri they could help.

"Well you won't find this person here. Been there done that." Gabrielle was quick to point out.

"I've been there you haven't." Xena reminded her. "And even if she can't find the person here we can help her look. Do you have any clue who this person may be?"

"No," Kim paused for a second as she thought about it, "well just these dreams I've been having."

Xena looked over at her. "Like what?"

"Like the one I just had. I was being chased by this goddess who wanted my head. And you were there to protect me," she pointed to Xena, "along with someone else - Callisto."

Gabrielle and Xena looked at her upon hearing that name. Kim stopped as she saw the sharp look from both of them. "Go on." Xena said after a few seconds of silence.

"Callisto had me be the bait for this goddess. I lured her onto a rope bridge over a lava pit. Callisto came to fight the goddess. I gave Callisto ambrosia, making her a goddess as well. Then as Callisto was fighting we got both goddesses into the lava pit trapping them what should have been forever." Kim explained. Too bad it was not forever. She did not know what happened, but two thousand years in the future, the goddess was alive and well.

Gabrielle stopped cooking and stared at Kim. "That's my memory - being chased by the goddess Velasca, making Callisto a goddess, trapping them both in the lava pit."

"Well I guess I have found who I'm looking for." Kim said, her initial familiarity with Gabrielle now making sense.

Gabrielle smiled. It was nice to meet her descendant. "I guess so. Now what?"

Kim gave a little shrug. "Too be honest, I'm not really sure. Zordon just sent us down here to meet you guys. I guess the rest of it is supposed to fall into place."

"Us? So there are more of you?" Xena questioned, trying to figure out exactly what was going on here.

"Yes my two friends are here with me." Kim replied. At least she assumed they were all here in this moment in time. She was not completely sure how this worked. "I don't know where they ended up. Trey sent us here and that was the last I saw of either of them."

Xena thought for a moment. "Let's have breakfast. Then we'll see if we can find your missing friends." She assumed that was part of the key to this puzzle. It had been the last time.

Xena walked off. Gabrielle looked down at the fish she still did not want to fool with. She smiled and looked at Kim. "So, do you know how to cook a fish?"

* * *

Their page told them something was going on; however, Alpha would not say what. They teleported to the Power Chamber and Tommy immediately addressed their mentor. "What's wrong Zordon?"

Zordon looked at the three rangers. "Where is Katherine?"

"With dippy." Carri said, making a face. She ignored the looks the other two rangers gave her and she continued. "She should be right behind us."

"We will wait for her." Zordon said. He intended to explain this to his rangers once while they were all together. They would simply have to wait for his pink ranger. It concerned him that she did not immediately answer her call as a ranger. He would never tell his team what to do with their personal lives; however, he was quite relieved that most of them dated within the ranger family. It eliminated the need to worry about keeping their secret from someone they were that close to. Jason had been the first to date someone who was not a ranger but he had been good about responding quickly. Katherine still took her duties seriously; however, there had been several occasions where she had taken a while to figure out how to excuse herself.

Carri leaned her head up against Rocky's shoulder. She had been looking forward to her caffeinated beverage. The few sips she got were not enough. She was somewhat bummed they were not sent out to battle. That would have given her a little jolt. Now she was going to have to rely on adrenaline to keep her awake. She caught a glimpse of Tommy as he leaned back against a console, eyes drooping. She could tell he felt the same way.

Rocky looked down at her, seeing her drifting away. He smiled "Don't fall asleep on me."

"I'll try not to." She said, although the longer they stood there the harder it was going to be to try.

A few minutes later Kat teleported in, and the almost asleep red and yellow rangers jumped. "Don't do that again you scared the shit out of me." Carri said.

Kat giggled, but did not respond to her cousin. She should not be dozing off in the Power Chamber. Instead, she turned toward Zordon. "So what's going on?"

The rest of the team turned toward their mentor. He glanced over them briefly before speaking. "Rangers, Kim, Jason and Billy have gone on a quest."

"Quest? What kind of quest?" Tommy asked his mind racing as he thought about what they might be going through and what they could do to assist them.

"Because of their Ninjetti powers, they have had dreams about their ancestors. The only way to resolve those dreams was to send them back in time." Zordon summed up the situation the others were in.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Carri asked, the thought that maybe she could fight perking her up a little bit.

"They must do this on their own." Zordon replied. He knew the rest of his team would want to help, but there was nothing for them to do.

"Is it dangerous?" asked Kat, her forehead scrunching up as she worried briefly about their friends.

"I am unsure of what they will be facing. They are going to the same time period you did." Zordon paused for a moment, not sure, if he should continue or not. He did not want the rangers to worry, however they would come to the assumption on their own. "Their greatest threat is Callisto."

At the mere mention of the name, Carri felt her blood boil. "Are you sure I can't go back there and help them and kick some ass?" Anytime the goddess was involved, she wanted to give her a personal beat down. She could hear her boyfriend chuckle but she ignored him.

"No. We will need you here. Rita and Zedd may have already found out that one member of your team is gone. They will stop at nothing to conquer Earth." Zordon trusted that the three Ninjetti could handle whatever happened in the past. He needed the rest of the team to remain here.

"So what do you want us to do Zordon?" asked Tommy, somewhat unsure of what the end point of this was.

"For now, nothing. Go to class rangers. We will contact you if there is an attack." Zordon replied. He had to inform them of the others whereabouts so they would not worry, however that was the extent of how they needed to be involved.

Tommy sighed. He always hated the waiting part. The other rangers nodded compliantly. Where Tommy had trouble concentrating on daily activity, waiting for the inevitable, the others would rather get on with their lives and take care of business as it came up.

"Intro to anthropology is waiting for us. Are you ready?" Rocky asked looking over at his girlfriend.

She sighed. "As ready as I'm going to be." She had much rather have had to run to a fight, but since that was not happening she resigned herself to going to class. The two teleported out and back to campus.

"I have class too." Kat said as she went to teleport. She looked over at the red ranger, who had not moved to leave yet. "Coming?" She watched as he nodded and the two teleported out.

* * *

Finster walked in and approached Zedd and Rita. "I have two molds I am working on. Both would be powerful." He said, hoping that bit of information would satisfy them for the moment.

"Why haven't you finished them yet?" Zedd asked, somewhat irritated by the lack of results.

"To give make them have the capability to be more powerful takes more time." He explained. He could not just throw together a mold with that much power that easily.

Rita smiled. She trusted Finster. He had been with her for centuries. "As soon as they are ready, we will send them down to destroy those rangers."

"Lemme help. Please sis. I can do it." Rito begged. He did not want to sit out on the sidelines. He wanted to go down and bag some rangers.

"I will go down and ensure the monsters victory over the rangers." Goldar said with a growl. They were not going to do this without him.

"Silence! When the monsters are ready, both of you will go to Earth and take some Tengas with you to assist them." Zedd replied. It was the best way to ensure victory.

Rito chuckled. "I can't wait."

Zedd adjusted himself so he was sitting higher on his throne and smiled. "Soon, the world will be ours."

* * *

Gabrielle sniffed her shirt and rolled her eyes. "Fish." She was going to smell it for days. She was irritated as Xena laughed and started walking her horse.

"So which direction are we going?" asked Kim. "I have no idea where to even begin looking for my friends." She liked the thought of finding them. She wanted to make sure everyone was here together and ok.

"I heard Hercules was last in a village not far from here. Since all of your ancestors seem to be with the same group, maybe he would know something." Xena suggested. It would make sense that the remainder of the group would have a connection to them as well.

"But Hercules already found his decedent. That long haired kid." Gabrielle pointed out. She did not know how he would be able to help.

Xena shot her friend a look. "But Iolaus hasn't." She was quick to point out.

They headed off down the road. While they were walking, Gabrielle heard someone call her name. She instantly recognized who it was. "Great.", she muttered rolling her eyes. It was not that she did not like the man looking for her. It was that he drove her crazy. She turned to face him. "Joxer, hi, what are you doing here?"

"I've come to find my sidekick of course." Joxer said as though it was the most obvious answer in the world.

Kim turned to look and see what was going on. She was surprised to see a familiar face next to the newcomer. "Billy?"

"In the flesh." He replied, grateful to see a fellow Ninjetti.

"Looks like you two know each other already." Joxer stated the obvious.

They nodded. "Billy, this is Xena and Gabrielle. And this is one of my friends, Billy." Kim introduced them as she turned towards Joxer. "And I'm Kim."

"Joxer the mighty at your service." He said as he bowed slightly toward Kim.

Gabrielle made a face. Xena snickered, but otherwise ignored the exchanged. "Well that was easy enough. I still say we march on towards Herc to find your other friend." The warrior suggested. Xena continued to lead the group to find Hercules, and hopefully the third member of Kim's group.

* * *

Zedd started tapping his fingers on his throne. "I'm sick of waiting."

"But Lord Zedd, you cannot rush this process." Finster protested. If he sent the monsters out too early, they would not do him any good.

Zedd knew he was right. That did not mean he wanted to sit here and do absolutely nothing. "Goldar!" he bellowed.

"Yes my lord?" The winged monkey said as he approached.

"Why don't you go down and give those power punks a taste of what's to come." Zedd said. No matter how this mini battle turned out, he would feel better knowing he reminded the rangers he was still here.

Goldar smiled. He was getting a chance. "Of course my lord."

* * *

Carri walked out of her history class with Mollie Monroe. This was their second history class together. They were taking an ancient Greek and Roman history class. Which Carri thought was rather appropriate, considering.

She stretched as the two girls walked across the lawn. "Man I'm tired." Between the lack of coffee or anything else to keep her going and her boring classes, she was ready for a nap.

"This is your last class today isn't it?" Mollie asked a hint of jealousy in her voice. She had another class after lunch.

"Yes but I hate Tuesdays and Thursdays." The yellow ranger complained. "Those hour and a half classes are killer."

Mollie nodded her head. She was not fond of them either. "But at least your day ends at twelve-thirty."

"True." She said, grateful that she did not have any more classes left. "Are we going to get something to eat?"

"Normally yes, but today no. I have a meeting with my next professor about a paper she assigned." Mollie replied with a frown. She would love to be able to use her break to relax with her friend.

"A paper already? That sucks. The semester just started." Carri knew she had a few papers to look forward to this semester, but she had a while before she had to worry about any of that.

She rolled her eyes. "Tell me about it. That's what I get for taking an advanced English class."

"I was thinking about taking that next semester." Although now she was thinking about changing her mind.

"Well good luck." Mollie, said stopping and looking at the buildings. "This is my stop. I'll see you later."

"Later.", Carri replied as she walked off. Carri turned to walk towards her apartment. There were some fast food places right off campus near her, and she figured she would just stop and grab something. She thought about giving Rocky a call and seeing if he wanted anything. Sometimes he stayed on campus during his hour and a half break sometimes he did not. She just could not believe when he signed up for three Tuesday-Thursday classes. If she did not have to, she was not going to. Fifty minutes was long enough.

She started to search for her cell phone when she heard a noise, followed by screams. She looked up in time to see college students fleeing from the lawn. And the reason why. "Prepare to die." Goldar said as he spotted the ranger who was staring at him.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh please. This will be easy."

"One ranger cannot defeat me." Goldar bellowed. This fight was going to be too easy.

"You're pretty stupid if you think that it's going to stay one on one. Well actually..." Her voice trailed off and she smiled as she looked around to make sure the area was clear. "It's morphin time! Zeo ranger two, yellow!"

Once she was morphed she looked around to see herself surrounded by Tengas. She was somewhat disappointed that Goldar was hiding. "Boo. Pansy. If I thought this was all I had to face, I wouldn't have gone all out."

Carri went flying through the tengas. There were not too many. And she was right. She could have easily been the Yellow Ninjetti to take care of the Tengas. Even though a Ninjetti did not have as much power as the Zeo's, they were certainly more fun. Just as she was tired of taking on Tengas, Goldar jumped in and kicked her in the back.

She flew forward and tumbled down to the ground. "What a cheap shot." she grumbled. Two sets of hands came to help her up.

"You alright?" Tommy asked, figuring Goldar had not injured much but her pride.

"Peachy." She replied, glancing briefly at the red and pink rangers as she crossed her arms over her chest out of irritation with the gold monkey. "Where have you guys been?"

"Sorry." Rocky called out as he teleported in to round off the team.

She looked at her friends. "Goldar here wanted a little one on one action with the yellow ranger. So if you'll excuse me." With that, she flipped over the Tengas, leaving her friends with the birds and her with Goldar.

"You've made a mistake yellow ranger." Goldar threatened. "Nobody messes with me."

She smiled. "You're just afraid you're about to get your ass kicked by a girl." And with that, she rushed at him calling for a weapon as she did.

Rocky, Tommy and Kat were keeping busy with the Tengas. "Why don't they just give up?" Rocky asked. The overstuffed birds never presented that much of a challenge.

"They enjoy their daily beating." Tommy replied. Although he had thought before about why Zedd and Rita had not tried to find something a bit better.

"Let's just hurry this up. I have better things to do than deal with these idiots." Kat said. She was going to be late to the math class she was taking with Chris.

Tommy flung the last Tenga that was near him out of the way. He looked up and saw his enemy battling with the yellow ranger. He called for his sword and ran over there. "Need a hand?"

"Actually I'm just starting to have a little fun here." Carri said with a shrug. She wanted to beat the crap out of him, but she supposed she would share. "But if you want to take a swing be my guest."

"You don't have to tell me twice." Tommy said. He jumped at Goldar, and the monkey anticipated his attack and immediately kicked him off. While Goldar's eyes were on him, Carri jumped in behind him and get some really good moves in.

"See Goldie I told you that you were going to get your ass kicked by a girl." She grinned, going to stand beside Tommy as she twirled her weapon in her hands.

Goldar furiously attacked both rangers. Tommy kicked Goldar away, and then the red and yellow Zeo's called on the full power of their Zeo weapons and fought back. Goldar fell down, and as he climbed back to his feet, he noticed that Rocky and Kat had finished off his Tenga warriors.

"This isn't over rangers." He assured them as he took off.

"Well I'm feeling invigorated and awake now, how about you guys?" Carri asked, grinning from behind her helmet.

"A fight always gets my adrenaline pumping, that's for sure." Tommy replied. It was just what he needed to shake off the slow morning. "I hate to cut all conversation short, but I am already ten minutes late for class."

"Me too." added Kat. Both the pink and red rangers quickly took off.

"How about it blue, wanna grab some lunch?" Carri asked, thinking that maybe she could get a lunch date out of this.

"Actually I was in the library when Alpha called. I have to start to find a topic for a paper I have to write for my next class." Rocky replied, somewhat bummed that he could not have lunch with his girlfriend.

"That sucks. I am dreading papers." She said, briefly flashing back to her earlier conversation with Mollie before continuing. "Later then?"

"Of course." He said before he took off as well.

Carri looked around and saw no one on the fields. Just to be extra cautious, she walked between some trees kids usually used for shade, and powered down. She grabbed her fallen backpack and started walking home.

* * *

Xena led her group into the village where Hercules had been spotted last. Things seemed quiet and everyone was mulling about doing their daily tasks. She decided to approach one of the villagers. "Excuse me, have you seen Hercules?"

The older woman smiled. "He saved our village." She doubted she would still be there if it were not for Hercules.

"Is he still here?" Xena asked. She doubted he was, but it did not hurt to ask.

The woman shook her head no. He had not stuck around long. "I saw him leave a little while ago. He went that way." She said as she lifted a finger and pointed.

Xena smiled. "Thank you." She turned to face the rest of her group. "We'll have to move quickly to catch up." They nodded and Xena led them off. Soon they were in the forest.

"They had a head start. How do we know that we will even catch up to them?" Gabrielle asked. She doubted they were just going to be relaxing in the woods somewhere.

"Because they have no reason to rush. We do. Eventually we will find them." She assured her. It was what she was counting on. Otherwise, it could be a while before they caught up.

The group marched on at a fast pace for another forty-five minutes. That is when they saw him. Billy was the first one to spot him and he worked hard to contain his excitement. These are the kind of myths you only read about in books. Yet, here he was, in the flesh. "Is that..."

"Hey Herc." Xena called out before Billy could finish his sentence.

The muscular figure turned around. He saw Xena standing there, with Joxer and Gabrielle, and to people he assumed to be from the same time-period as Jason. "Xena, it's good to see you."

She smiled at him. It had been a while. "It's good to see you too. Where's Iolaus?"

"He'll be right back. He and his friend took off. They were looking for a place to fish." He said smiling. At least Iolaus was looking for a place to fish. He was not sure Jason cared about it, but he was sticking with him. "I told him we didn't have time for a vacation, but he insisted that I wait here. He swore there was a spot nearby that we could be found at, and we could catch a good dinner."

Gabrielle wrinkled her nose at the thought of more fish. Before she had a chance to make a comment, there was a noise coming from the forest. She saw Xena put a hand on her sword just in case.

"See Herc I told you I could find a spot." Iolaus said as he and Jason came out into the open.

Xena relaxed as she saw the duo. "Is this your friend?" She asked as she glanced over at the green ranger.

The look on Kim's face confirmed it. She went over to him. "It's good to see you Jason."

He smiled. He was worried about Kim and Billy he could not help it. Not only had they been friends for a long time, but also the three of them out here together reminded their first days as rangers and he felt the need to take responsibility. "Good to see you guys too. I wasn't sure if I would find you or not."

Billy walked over to his friends. "It seems as though all of our friend's ancestors knew each other, so it is only logical that we would meet up at some point in our journey."

"So now that you have all met up, what are you supposed to do?" asked Gabrielle. She had not decided if she wanted them to hang out or go back to where they came from. It was all somewhat weird.

"We still aren't sure." Kim replied. They were under the impression they were going to get sent home once they found what they were looking for. She did not think there was much left to find and she was ready to go home where she had a hot shower and clean clothes.

"How are you supposed to get home?" asked Joxer, wondering what he could do to be of assistance. He did not want to ask, however he assumed they would simply ask him.

"We don't know. Trey told us that the people of this time would not let us stay for long." Billy answered. He did not know what qualified as long, or who was supposed to send them back. It did not seem like it was anybody in this group.

Hercules thought for a moment about the people of the time. There was only one person that had the power to do anything. "Zeus." He finished his thought out loud. "He will probably send you home when he sees fit."

"And in the meantime?" Jason asked. They had a lot going on back home they needed to get back to, not to mention he had a ranger team that could need the green ranger at any moment.

"In the meantime we just continue on in the same direction we had planned on going this morning." Xena replied. If they kept going on with their lives, Zeus would eventually catch up to them.

"Mind if we joined you?" Hercules asked. They had Jason with them; they might as well all tag along together.

Iolaus threw his hands up. That was not what he had in mind. He found the perfect spot for them. "Aw Herc, come on! Vacation, fishing..."

Hercules smiled as his friend. "People in need don't wait you know."

"Yeah well neither will these fish." He replied with a grumble.

"Come on, let's go." Hercules said as gestured to Xena to lead them off. Iolaus would get over it. This was not the first time they had been denied a vacation and he doubted it would be the last.

Iolaus sighed as everyone walked past him. "Fine. Wait for me.", he called as he jogged off to join them.

* * *

Around three that afternoon, Carri heard a knock on her door. She rolled off of her bed and made her way out to the front of her apartment. She swung the door open and was greeted by a familiar face. "Hello." She said with a grin.

"Hello." Rocky replied, leaning down and planting a kiss on her lips before walking into the apartment.

"How was class?" She asked as she closed the door behind him.

"Boring as usual." He replied. He was ready to leave and come by to see her well before class was over. "What about you, what have you been up to?"

She shrugged, before launching into a discussion about her afternoon. "I went and talked to Alpha. Something was odd about the lunch fight. It was too simple. He agrees. He said there have been no real signs of activity from the Lunar Palace except Goldar's attack. The fear is that they were just teasing us, maybe wearing us down for something worse."

Rocky nodded. "That's what I was afraid of too." The thought had crossed his mind, and he spent part of class worrying that he was going to get called off any minute to defend the city.

"I've got good news." She told him, giving him a flirty grin.

"What?" He questioned as he raised an eyebrow. He half thought the good news was the reminder that her roommates were gone and they were guaranteed an empty apartment.

"I talked to Kat after she got out of class. Me, you, Kat, Chris and Tommy are going bowling at four." She said, knowing as she did that it was not necessarily the best news. That meant they had to spend time with Chris and that Tommy would have to watch the two of them. Still, it could be fun.

He raised an eyebrow. "We are now?" He said half disappointed.

She smiled at him. She knew what was on his mind. The thought had crossed her mind too. However, it was more fun to let him think bowling was the only thing on the agenda. "Yup. What better to do during an impending crisis than bowl?"

He put his arms around her waist. "I could come up with some better things to do."

"I'm sure you could." She said as the corner of her lips curled up into a smile. Before she could tease him further, he pulled her into him and planted his lips against hers, and for a moment the rest of their worries were temporarily forgotten.

* * *

The two stayed in the quiet apartment until it was time to leave. Then they headed out, jumping in the car and making the short drive to the bowling alley. It did not take long to get there, and Rocky and Carri were standing by the front counter a few minutes before four. Kat and Chris showed up right at four.

Kat glanced at her two friends before looking around the center. "Is Tommy here yet?"

Carri rolled her eyes. "Please." She had not expected him to be there at four. He was never on time. It was a miracle he made it to his classes.

Kat giggled. "Never mind." She knew he had a tendency to be late, but for the few months they were together, she got to see it firsthand.

"Should we go ahead and get started?" Chris asked. He really did not care if Tommy showed up at all. It made him uncomfortable that Kat still hung out with her ex. He knew she did not think of him that way anymore, but still it was weird.

"We can get some lanes." Rocky replied, figuring by the time they got settled the red ranger would arrive.. "I'm sure Tommy will be here any minute."

The four walked over to the board looking employee behind the counter to get set up. As they were paying for their old, mismatched bowling shoe rentals, Tommy wondered in. "It's about time." Rocky said, shaking his head.

"Hey I'm only," Tommy paused to check his watch, "Seven minutes late this time."

"Seven. Not bad." Carri teased as her boyfriend chuckled. She thought he would be twice as late.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's just bowl ok." Tommy grinned. He could argue that it was not his fault, but there was no point. Besides when it came down to it he left later than he wanted so he was late.

After they finished with the woman at the counter, they walked off toward their lane. "How many lanes did you get us?" Tommy asked as he took a giant stride in front of Kat and Chris to walk with his two teammates.

"Two. That way we can get more games in. I need practice at this sport." Carri said. Bowling was not her thing. She really liked it and she gave it a good go, however there were many factors she was not good at accounting for. Billy tried to give her the physics explanation once but it went over her head. Which surprised the former ranger since pitching was about physics too. However, she never thought about that. She just got on the mound and threw. If her brother had tried to teach her by explaining the physics, she would have never figured it out.

Rocky looked over at Tommy and Carri. "Yeah but how many games do you think we will get in before..." he let his voice trail off as he looked at his communicator.

She laughed. "A half a frame maybe if we are lucky. That's usually the way it goes around here." She said, catching Tommy's smile out of the corner of her eye. She could not remember the last time they actually got to complete something fun they started. Rita and Zedd usually let them go to class. She briefly wondered if she could change that stat but the thought was forgotten as they approached the lane.

"How about me and Chris versus all three of you?" Kat asked as she smiled at her boyfriend. It seemed somewhat symbolic to have her and Chris's names up there together. Plus it would be fun for the two of them to try to beat her three friends.

"Well that would actually be a fair competition since my twelve pins aren't going to help our score much." The yellow ranger said as she made a face. Yup, she definitely needed practice.

Rocky chuckled. "Carri you've been getting better." She was pretty damn determined to figure this game out. She just had not gotten very far yet. Still, she had not given up and he enjoyed coming out here with her and letting her try.

She smiled. "I know I broke one hundred twice now." That had been an accomplishment. Sure the scores were one oh one and one oh seven, but that was breaking one hundred.

The others laughed at her. "Come on, let's get balls and get started." Tommy said as he walked off in search of the perfect bowling ball. The rest of the group followed him.

* * *

"You see, this is what we call a hero's life." Iolaus said as the group marched on. "You never get vacations, you're always on call. It's not very fun or exciting." He would never quit doing what he did, but still that was not the point.

"Yes but don't you think that all the lives you save make up for it?" Gabrielle asked. It was a lot of travel and a lot of work, but in the end, it had to be worth it.

Iolaus sighed. "That's beside the point. The point is I haven't gotten to go fishing in two months." He was going to go nuts if he could not go fishing soon.

Hercules laughed. "Don't worry. After we take care of this situation, we'll find a spot, near civilization, and we will relax." He assured his friend.

"In other words we'll sit down for about an hour until someone else needs help." Iolaus replied. He was not stupid; he knew exactly what was going to happen.

"That's what happens when you have good versus evil. Evil never stops." Xena said. She was on the other side once. She knew what it was like to want to conquer, she knew the driving force the people they fought had.

Jason smiled in agreement. "Isn't that the truth." He said with a sigh. "Don't feel bad, the last vacation I had was... well when I lost my powers last year."

Kim and Billy nodded. "Vacation just isn't in a ranger's vocabulary." Kim said. She had to quit the team to get more than a day or two of quiet. Of course now she would trade all that back in for another morpher but she had made her choice.

"No, it's in there; we just don't ever get a chance to experience it." Billy corrected. Even he did not get time to relax and he was not an active ranger any more. However anytime there was a conflict, he was off to the Power Chamber to assist.

The others smiled, and for a moment, everything was quiet and calm. At least it was until Xena jerked her head up suddenly. "What's that?" She asked, glancing in the direction of the disturbance.

"What?" asked Joxer as he stopped and turned in circles trying to figure out what got her attention.

She sniffed the air. She knew what it was; it was something she was all too familiar with. "It's fire." She replied. Quickly she jumped on her horse and took off after the smell.

"Where is she going?" asked Gabrielle as she watched her best friend ride off.

"I don't know but I think we should follow her." replied Hercules. If she smelled smoke that could not be a good thing.

The group ran in the direction Xena took off in. They could not smell the smoke at first, but as they got closer, the smell engulfed their nostrils. They knew exactly where they were going.

They arrived at the edge of a village. When they got there, they could see that flames had engulfed the entire village. Xena was confronting someone, but they could not tell who. They glanced out over the horizon and they could see smoke rising from what they could only assume was another village.

Jason was the first to run up to Xena to see who had done such a horrifying thing. When he saw whom she was talking to, it came as no surprise. "Callisto." He growled. He should have known they would run into her here.

She cocked her head and looked at him. "You know who I am?" She asked, quite pleased that this insignificant man had heard of her.

"What are you doing here, going on another one of your rampages?" Jason asked, the anger rising in his voice. He remembered how easy it was for her to light people on fire in Angel Grove Park.

She smiled at him. "So you do know me. I am impressed. I'm not usually one of the goddesses people take note of." Although apparently she was doing something, right if others were taking notice.

Xena glared at her. "You're only half a goddess compared to the ones on Olympus. You want to be as strong as them but you will never see that kind of power."

Callisto laughed. "You may not want to respect me the way you respect your precious gods on Olympus. However, let us not forget. The same godly blood that runs through their veins runs through mine. You cannot stop me. Only prey to your gods that you are fast enough to get out of my way." With that, Callisto reached her hand back and formed a fireball. She shot it forward at the group. Nobody had much time to react. Everyone scattered to avoid getting set on fire.

Jason hit the ground hard. He looked back at his friends. Everyone was still there. Callisto was laughing at them. She created another fireball and tried again. Jason was out of range of this one. She was mainly aiming for Xena. He saw Xena and Hercules, avoiding her attacks while trying to get in some of their own. While Callisto was distracted, Jason collected his friends and tried to hide.

"We have to do something." Jason said. He did not care if they were not in their time; he was not going to let Callisto get away with this.

"But what? Billy and I don't have any powers and yours don't work here." Kim pointed out. She agreed that the goddess had to be stopped, she just did not know how.

"You're wrong. You and Billy are Ninjetti's. I am a Ninjetti. Those powers are connected through us. Maybe the Green Zeo Ranger can't join the fight, but the Green Ninjetti sure as hell can." His mind was made up. He could not force his friends to fight off against her with only their Ninjetti powers, but he was joining the fight with or without them.

Billy looked skeptical at first. However, the more he thought of it, the more he realized that he was probably right. "I'm in." Billy told the green ranger.

Kim glanced at both of them. "We'll I'm not going to let you two do this on your own." And here she had thought this was going to be an easy trip back to the past.

Jason nodded. He was hoping they would join in. "Then what are we waiting for? Ninjetti, cougar!"

"Crane!"

"Wolf!"

The green, blue and pink Ninjetti's looked at each other. They knew what they had to do next.

* * *

Finster walked into the throne room with a smile on his face. "Lord Zedd, the monsters are ready."

"It's about time." Zedd said gruffly as he got off of his throne. Zedd and Rita followed Finster, with Rito and Goldar on their heels.

"Lord Zedd, may I present to you the two most powerful monsters to ever be created by me." He said a hint of pride in his voice as he gestured toward them.

Zedd smiled. "Excellent. Rito, Goldar, gather up some Tengas. Take these two monsters and get down to Earth. I want those power punks destroyed!"

"Yes my lord." Goldar replied, leaving the room and dragging Rito with him.

Rita smiled and looked over at Zedd. "Oh Zeddie, I'm so excited. This is the moment we've been waiting for."

"Yes and as soon as those brats are destroyed, we will have our chance to rule the world!"

* * *

Three games into bowling, Carri got excited. "Guys look. If you add up my first three scores, that's at least a three hundred!"

Rocky laughed at her enthusiasm for her low scores. "Yes but most people try to achieve three hundred in one game."

Tommy smiled. "Come on Rocky, leave her alone."

"Yeah leave me alone." She chimed in; somewhat surprised that Tommy was actually going to let her have this one.

"She'll never in this lifetime see two hundred in one game, much less three, so let her enjoy her own personal accomplishments." Tommy continued. He could not let the yellow ranger off that easily.

Rocky laughed as he went to start the game over. Carri rolled her eyes and playfully hit Tommy. Kat smiled at her friends. "Well I am glad you are learning how to bowl. Are we going to go for one more?" Kat asked.

"But of course." Rocky replied. Although he wasn't sure his girlfriend was learning anything. She had figured out how to throw her first ball almost straight down the lane, which was the reason for the higher pin count.

"This is fun. I am glad we all got to come out here. I just wish your other friends could've joined us." Chris said. He happened to enjoy it more when there were more people around. He got less weird vibes from Kim and Billy than he did from everyone else.

"Yes, well, they're just busy. Some other time, I'm sure." Carri said. She was not going to make up excuses for them, not to Chris.

Rocky grabbed her by the waist and pointed at the screen. "Come on, you're up first."

Carri smiled as she grabbed her ball. Kat was first on the other lane and came to stand beside her. The two girls looked at each other and grinned as the fourth game began.

They almost got three frames through the fourth game when their communicators went off. "I should have had you put some money on that." Tommy said, surprised that they had made it through three full games.

"Who knew they would let us have a little fun." Carri replied with a shrug.

Chris came and sat down. He saw Carri, Rocky and Tommy turn to leave. Kat looked at her friends. She knew what was going on; she just could not leave with them at the moment. "Where are you going?" Chris asked, wondering what scared them off so suddenly.

"To the pro shop." Rocky replied. The pro shop was out of sight of their lane, and hopefully Chris would not come to look for them there.

"For what?" asked Chris, a hint of agitation in his voice. It was not like any of them were good bowlers. They did not need anything at the pro shop.

"If I'm going to keep bowling, I'm going to invest in shoes. I certainly cannot keep wearing rentals. I mean look at these they are a fashion disaster. I just don't think I can be caught dead with them on my feet for one minute longer." Carri was the first one to come up with something to say. It was certainly believable. The thought itself was not a bad idea, and she really might invest in shoes at some point, however now was not going to be the time. Chris did not know that though, he did not know her, and the way she said it made her sound like her mother's daughter, which was what those who did not really know her expected.

"You're taking your whole team?" Chris asked, somewhat skeptical. He could not see her asking their advice on what shoes to buy.

She simply shook her head as if it were a given. "I can pick out the ones that will look the best and will match everything however I'll need these two to help me figure out which ones are actually good for bowling."

With that, she linked one arm into Tommy's and the other into Rocky's before turning to take off. Rocky glanced at her as they walked away and raised an eyebrow. She simply shrugged in response. She had to survive three years at a ritzy private school in Manhattan. If she could not put on an act and pull out a little bit of what she learned from her mother that never would have happened. As they went past the pro shop, she let go of their arms. Then when nobody was looking, they slipped out the back of the building.

Tommy pulled his communicator to his mouth. "What is it Alpha?"

"Zedd has sent Rito, Goldar, tengas, and two new powerful monsters down to Earth. You must stop them rangers." The worried robotic voice came through.

"Shit." Rocky stated. There were short one member and Zedd and sent an army. This was not going to be good. His girlfriend made eye contact with him and nodded in agreement with his statement.

"We've got this." Tommy replied. He was somewhat worried to, however he knew they would all fight hard and bring Zedd's forces down or die trying. He looked around to make sure it was clear before he shifted stances. "It's morphin time!"

"Zeo ranger two, yellow!"

"Zeo ranger three, blue!"

"Zeo ranger five, red!"

And with that, they were off to try and save the world again.

* * *

The rangers showed up at the fight ready for whatever was thrown their way. Goldar immediately greeted them. "Rangers, it's nice of you to join us. Now prepare for your final battle."

The trio looked around at Goldar, Rito, the Tengas and the two monsters. There was only one thing they could do. "We're going to have to split up guys." Tommy said.

"Right.", Carri agreed. Rocky sighed. He did not like the idea, but he knew they did not have any other choice.

"Rocky and I will take the monsters, you take Goldar, and as soon as Kat gets here she can take Rito." Tommy dished out the bad guys.

"Did I hear you correctly? You mean I have to put up with the bag of bones?", Kat asked teleporting in. She hated having to sneak out on Chris like that. She did not have a choice though. She hoped he would not get suspicious.

"You heard right." Tommy told her. With that, he took off after a monster and the foursome split up.

"Hey, pinky, it's good to see you." Rito greeted Kat as she jumped in front of him.

"You won't think that way for long." Kat assured him as they started the fight.

Carri flipped over Goldar's head. As soon as the ape turned around, she attacked him. "Two ass kicking's by a girl in one day has got to be a little embarrassing Goldie." She teased him. Probably was not the smartest thing to do, but she could not help herself.

"You have greatly overestimated your position on the battle field this time. Before you had your friends to fight the Tengas, now, you have to deal with all of us on your own." As soon as Goldar finished the Tengas spread out to help attack.

"Great." Carri said glancing over at her teammates through the sea of big brown birds. They were all busy which left her on her own. She stood straight and pushed her shoulders back before running forward and showing the over grown birds what she was made of.

Elsewhere, Tommy and Rocky each called for their weapons to go attack the monsters. Both of the monsters were similar, and both were like nothing they had ever seen before. Before they knew it, both boys got flung across the grass.

"Something's not right about these guys." Rocky said as he stood up and turned toward Tommy.

"You're right. They seem," Tommy paused as the realization hit him, "I think they're more powerful than usual." He did not like the idea but as far as he could tell, that was what was going on.

Just as he said that, the monsters fired beams at them. The boys took the hit, falling backward once more before sitting up just in time to see them turn and fire on the female rangers. The girls hit the ground and were each immediately attacked.

"We've got to stop them." Rocky said. He did not like watching his girlfriend get hit with sneak attacks.

Tommy nodded and the boys went back up against the monsters full force. The monsters continued throw the male rangers to the ground and attempt to attack the girls at the same time.

"I don't know how much longer we can do this." Rocky said looking at Tommy. They were getting beat and going nowhere.

"I know." He agreed. This did not look good at all. Maybe if Carri and Kat could get this way they could put up some sort of offense, but Goldar and Rito kept hitting the girls with Tengas and not letting them move. "But we've got to try."

Rocky did not even wait to hear Tommy's reply as he had already run back to try to destroy the monsters.

* * *

The blue and pink Ninjetti's attacked Callisto with a force she had never seen before. Callisto turned toward them with a snarl. "What's this?" She asked her displeasure obvious. "More hero's for me to destroy?" she said before attacking the two Ninjetti's.

Billy and Kim fought back, and then threw her off of them. Before Callisto had time to react, Jason attacked her from above and sent her flying backwards. "Nobody messes with the power rangers." He growled his anger from things she technically hadn't even done yet fueling him in battle.

Callisto quickly rose to her feet. "Power rangers?" she questioned smiling as she did so. "Well rangers, I have news for you. Nobody messes with me and lives." With that, she resumed throwing fireballs, this time at the three Ninjetti's.

Jason leaped high in the air, above her fireball while Kim and Billy scattered to the sides. Before Jason's feet touched the ground, he executed a Ninjetti power move and knocked Callisto harder than she ever thought possible.

When Callisto got up, Jason could see she was seething. "How could you do this to me?" she asked. "You are not a god. Not even partially, you are just a weak human in a costume."

Jason smiled. "Oh Calli you've really underestimated the power of a Ninjetti." He spoke, intentionally pushing her buttons. He thought for a moment about what the yellow ranger would say to that, but did not have time to dwell on it as the battle continued.

Furiously, Callisto reached for her sword and ran at Jason. She was going to kill all three of them, starting with their obvious leader. As she approached Jason, she lunged the sword forward into his chest. She looked down, expecting to see him standing there bleeding. Instead, all she saw was dirt at her feet. "What the..."

Callisto started to spin around but Jason gave her no time to react as he hit her and sent her sailing into one of the buildings she had set on fire. Callisto looked around at her surroundings. She did not know what to think. What she did know is that she was a goddess who just got embarrassed by a mere mortal. She had to regroup, to figure out what had just happened. "This isn't over yet." She said with a hiss as she took off.

The three Ninjetti ran over to the building, with Xena and Hercules on their heels. When they got there, they saw that Callisto had disappeared. "She's gone." Kim said as she turned toward everyone else.

Xena smiled. "You must have really surprised her." She was impressed with what these three did to stand up to the goddess.

"We couldn't let her win." Jason replied. They knew what she was capable of.

"At least that's over for now." Hercules said, frowning as he looked around at what was left of the village. "Now we have to hope for some rain."

"If anything, it should just burn itself out. Trust me, I know." Xena put her head down and walked off. The others followed her.

"Is it over?" asked Joxer, bouncing around as if he were a boxer about to enter a fight. "Because, you know, if it's not I am ready to take on Callisto."

Gabrielle rolled her eyes. "You were hiding with the rest of us."

"I was not. I was preparing for the attack." Joxer said, quickly defending himself.

"Let's not argue over it. She's gone, that's all that matters." Iolaus pointed out.

Joxer was hiding, but he did not intend to jump in on that argument.

"Actually there are more pressing things to worry about than Callisto." A voice said from behind them.

Everyone turned around. "Go ahead father; tell them how they are messing you up by being her and how you have to send them home." Hercules said sighing. He knew Zeus would interfere eventually.

"Well if you know that, then why are they here in the first place?" Zeus asked, glancing over the small group in front of him.

"We needed to find the answers... the reasons for our nightmares." Billy told him, in complete awe of the figure standing before him. He could not come up with much more than that to say at the moment. This was his textbooks come to life.

Zeus looked at the Ninjettis. "Are you satisfied?" He asked. The three nodded. "Good. Then it is time to send you home."

With that, Zeus lifted his hand and opened a portal. The three Ninjetti said good-bye to all of their new acquaintances. Then they jumped into the portal, hoping to get home and finally get a good night of sleep.

* * *

Tommy and Rocky lay on the ground powerless. The male rangers were hurt. They were struggling to get to their feet. The monsters had left them there. They knew they had defeated them for the time being. They were going to kill them. It had been so easy to defeat them. However Lord Zedd thought that watching the female rangers perish would be the final nail in the boys' coffins before they were killed too.

Tommy and Rocky morphed again. They looked at each other. They did not have enough energy to continue the fight. They were afraid it was hopeless and they knew something had to change, and quickly. They looked around. They had lost the monsters for the moment. Neither one of them knew what was going on. Until they heard the two girls screaming, they did not know where it was coming from, Rito and Goldar had separated them. They only hoped that they could get there in time.

The monsters caught up with the pink and yellow Zeo rangers far from where they had left the boys. Zedd's plan was working perfectly. The two monsters separated and each went to help attack the female rangers.

Both monsters went to fire at the girls. The girls went flying across the field. Kat landed in the middle of the grass. Carri's back smacked up against a tree as she slid down it. The monsters fired at them again. Kat was able to roll away from the blast. Carri was not. The second shot was powerful enough to temporarily strip her of her powers.

She looked down at herself, then over at the monster. She did not have much time to think before Goldar was on top of her. "These are Finster's most powerful creations. Never before has a monster been able to handle rangers like he just did. And thanks to them, we will finally be able to destroy you."

Carri propped herself up, trying to morph again. "You will never defeat us." She said with a snarl, her voice showing more confidence than she actually felt at the moment.

Goldar grabbed her by the throat, pulling her all the way up just to slam her to the ground. "I would think twice about that if I was you ranger." He put his sword in her face, ready for the kill.

Carri hoped that her friends were on the way, but she knew that they were busy with their own monsters. Well she assumed they were. The two monsters that Rocky and Tommy were supposed to be fighting were here. She was afraid that meant that they were dead, and she was next.

As Goldar got ready to lunge forward, a pair of boots hit him squarely in the chest. The Green Zeo Ranger bent down and put his arms around his friend, helping her up.

She looked at him and smiled. "Thank you." She said, relieved that the others had finally made it back.

He grinned at her. "You know that it helps if you morph before you jump into a fight." He teased, hoping to make her smile a little after the beating it looked like they had just gotten.

She smirked. "Yeah yeah." She said as she glanced over at him. "It's morphin time! Zeo ranger two, yellow!" She smiled as she saw Rocky and Tommy running over to them.

"You're back!" Tommy greeted. He had never been happier to see his best friend.

"And I've come with reinforcements." Jason replied. The rangers looked over as Kat came and joined them. She was no longer needed to fight the Tengas and Rito, as Kim and Billy had taken over for her.

Tommy looked over at his team. A new wave of energy had come over them. "You'll be sorry you ever messed with us." He said as he turned toward Goldar.

"What makes you think you can defeat us even with your extra ranger?" Goldar asked, frustrated that he had not been able to finish off the yellow ranger when he had the chance.

"Rangers." Trey corrected as he teleported onto the scene.

"Took you long enough." Carri said. It used to be that Trey was always there watching their backs. Now he had other things to do, but he still provided the occasional assist.

"I apologize. There were some problems I was attending to first." Trey said. He wished he could have gotten here sooner but it simply was not possible.

"No matter. He's here now." Tommy said, ending that conversation quickly as he focused on Goldar. "And you're going down."

"Never." Goldar hissed. He was not going to let the rangers win, not when they were this close.

"We'll see about that." Trey said as he went to attack Goldar.

The five rangers found themselves with the two monsters. Tommy and Carri took one, while Jason, Rocky and Kat took the other.

Moments later, Trey sent Goldar packing for the time being and joined Tommy and Carri in the fight. Even the two Ninjetti's finished what they were doing and jumped in. Eventually the Zeo Rangers called for the Zeo Cannon and destroyed one monster, while a new more powerful Gold Rush took out the other one.

Rita and Zedd were furious and quickly made their monsters grow. As they watched the two monsters begin to tower over them, Rocky turned toward the two Ninjetti's. "Thanks for the help guys, but I think we've got it from here." The two Ninjetti's nodded and teleported off.

"We need Super Zeo Zord Power now!" yelled Tommy.

"I call upon the power of Pyramidas!" Trey called out.

They quickly formed the megazord. Once they were sitting in the cockpit of the zord, Tommy looked at his friends. "You guys got this?" He asked, wanting to up the ante a bit.

"Absolutely." Rocky replied as he shifted to take control of the zord.

With that, Tommy called for the Red Battlezord. Between the three zords, and then the combined power of the Super Zeo MegaZord and Pyramidas, they were able to defeat Zedd's monsters.

* * *

"Finster!" Lord Zedd yelled, furious that this golden opportunity had been wasted.

Finster ran into the throne room. "Yes?"

"I thought you said that these monsters would be more powerful." He said, the anger in his voice showing through.

"They were more powerful Lord Zedd. They almost defeated the rangers. They just couldn't withstand the power of all those rangers put together." Finster replied. Every time they thought they knew how to defeat the rangers, they managed to come across a little bit stronger.

"So how do we fix that?" Rita asked, not wanting to listen to the two of them argues. They were giving her another headache.

"I am not sure." Finster replied honestly. He was going to have to work on it.

"Well find out!" Zedd yelled before turning his anger elsewhere. "As for you two, I thought that you were going to help ensure the ranger's defeat, and you left."

"Well Ed when all those other rangers showed up, we kind of got our butts kicked." Rito replied with a shrug. They were doing good for a while.

"Idiots! I want you out of my sight!" Zedd put his hand to his head as the two lackeys walked off. "One day rangers." He said as he glanced briefly toward Earth. "One day you will feel my wrath and you will regret the day you ever messed with Lord Zedd."

* * *

"Aye ai ai, rangers we were so worried!" Alpha exclaimed as they teleported back.

"Us too." Tommy admitted. If the others had not shown up when they did they would have been in trouble. "But we pulled through."

Kat nodded. "We're just lucky you guys made it back when you did." She did not want to think about what would have happened if they didn't.

"How was your journey rangers?" Zordon asked, turning toward the three teens that he sent back in time.

"I think we got exactly what we were looking for." Kim answered with a grin as she glanced at her two companions.

"Did you see Callisto?" Carri asked. They had run into her in the past, she would not be surprised if her friends had as well.

"We not only saw, but fought Callisto." Jason answered, grinning at her. He watched as she made a face somewhere between excitement and disappointment.

"I told you to let me go help kick some ass." She liked any chance to beat the crap out of Callisto.

Jason laughed at his friend. "Don't worry we gave her an ass kicking for you."

Billy smiled. "It was actually easier than we thought." Of course she did not know who they really were which gave them the advantage.

Rocky looked over at his friends. "Guys, I think Chris is waiting for us. Maybe we should head back."

"Chris!" Kat exclaimed putting a hand to her mouth. That was a long fight, she was exhausted, and now she had to go back and find a way to lie to her boyfriend. "What... what do I tell him? I mean we were gone a while. Moreover, he thinks I was in the bathroom. Should I just tell him the truth? No, I cannot tell him the truth, what am I saying. You guys, I don't know what to say."

"Just tell him it was something you ate. He won't ask questions." Tommy said. He would never want a girl to tell him all of that in detail.

"Yeah maybe." She replied thoughtfully. "I'm going to go ahead and go back down. Give me a few minutes then you guys can come in."

Kat teleported out, once she was gone, Rocky turned toward the others. "You guys are welcome to join us."

"Yeah. I am providing some pretty serious competition. You guys won't be able to beat me." Carri said, hoping she would get them to come with them. The more people they had down there, the less attention she would have to pay to Kat and Chris giving each other googly eyes.

Tommy laughed. The others looked at each other. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm up for some fun." Jason replied. He was exhausted, but sleep could wait.

"Me too." Kim said as Carri grinned at her. "All the crap we've had to worry about it would be fun to go out and have a good time."

"As long as I'm not needed around here, count me in." Billy added. He would love some time to relax with his friends.

"Go and have a good time Billy." Zordon encouraged. He appreciated the former blue ranger's work in the Power Chamber; however, he did not want him to feel as though he could not spend time with his friends because of it.

"Give us some a minute to talk to Chris. Then you guys can appear." Carri said. They had to spin something to go with her dramatic exit to the pro shop and set up the other's arrival.

"Will do." Jason replied.

With that, the three rangers teleported down, the others soon to follow.

* * *

As they approached their lanes, they noticed Kat and Chris sitting there, Chris looking confused. "And where have you guys been?" He asked. His girlfriend apparently had gotten sick, which he understood. She still wanted to be here though so he guessed it was not that bad. However, her friends were gone forever too.

"Do you know how hard it is to find a decent looking pair of shoes?" Carri asked with a dramatic roll of her eyes. "They only had one pretty pair that would look awesome with my wardrobe and it wasn't even in my size. It was tragic."

Tommy and Rocky glanced at each other, trying really hard not to laugh as Carri continued. "Oh and Kim called. They got the note I left about bowling. She said everyone was there, and that they were on their way over here."

As if on cue, they caught a glimpse of Carri's three roommates walking into the center. They grabbed some shoes at the counter then headed over.

"Hey guys, are we ready to play?" Jason asked as they approached.

"Absolutely." Kat replied; glad to see everyone there hanging out with them.

"We'll restart these games. Kim why don't you play on our team, and Jason and Billy can join the other." Tommy suggested. It meant something to him for Kim to be on his team. He was not ready to say that to her yet though. He and Kat had not been broken up for long and she just moved back.

Kim smiled. "Sounds like a plan." It was sort of like couples bowling. If they were a couple she wanted to be a couple, but Tommy had not made any sort of move in that direction. She was not sure, if he was ready, or if it was what he wanted now, so she did not approach the subject.

With the teams split up, the group started bowling, trying to forget about everything that had happened that day.

* * *

A figure sat straight up in her chair. She would not forget that day. Well, she had forgotten. Until now, suddenly it all made sense. How a human could have embarrassed her so much. She had wanted to punish him for that, but she could not. Now she knew why. However, she could punish him now. Now that she realized who he was. She would make sure he would pay. Callisto smiled as the ideas started flowing in. She would have her payback, and it would be soon.


	20. Returns

**Dislcaimer:** As usual, the rangers belong to Saban, Callisto to Universal and all others are mine.

Ranger Scrolls

"Returns"

Two friends were looking through the window of an airplane, waiting for it to touchdown in their hometown. Both were excited to get some time off, and to get to go back and see their friends. They only hoped their friends would have time to see them.

"Do you think they will be excited to see us?" asked Zack, a smile curling up as he glanced over at the former yellow ranger. He'd be disappointed if they weren't. He knew they were excited to see them.

Trini replied with a giggle. "I certainly hope so." She'd be disappointed as well. However she was fairly certain they were missed.

"It sucks that we won't be able to stay too long." Zack said with a frown. He hadn't been back to the states in forever, at least not for a real visit. He wanted to stay for a few months but they were required back in Europe.

Trini smiled. She agreed, but she understood why they had to go back and she would be ready when the time came. "Yes but, you know, work calls. And you have to admit, we have some of the best jobs in the world."

Zack nodded his head in agreement. "I am excited to really get into it. We have done so much good with the peace conferences. Now being able to work on the council in Geneva, that's going to let us do the most good of all." He wasn't sure about going at first, he was never completely confident it was the right move. Once he got out there though and started working, he knew he was doing the right thing.

"I can't wait to tell everyone. My parents included." Trini knew her parents would be proud of her. They were thrilled that their daughter had gotten selected for the Peace Conference in the first place. Now she was not only being invited to stay and work, but they were able to take classes at one of the more prestigious European universities.

"Me too." Zack replied, glancing at her briefly before leaning back in his seat. Trini did the same, and both of them tried to relax while wishing the rest of the trip to go by quickly.

* * *

Carri with her legs crossed on her couch watching TV. For the moment, the apartment was empty. Billy was in the Power Chamber working on some stuff that he tried to explain to her but it went over her head. Jason was still in class. However, she was expecting Kim to come in any minute.

Every once in a while, Carri reached up to thumb the necklace Rocky had given her for Valentine's Day. It was a small silver heart with a simple yellow stone dangling in the middle of it. It was a nice replacement for the necklace she used to wear all the time, the one that held the blue and yellow crystals that glowed for her. That chain broke, and she hadn't gotten around to getting a replacement. The crystals were tucked in a box on her dresser, and on occasion she would reach in and grab them just to see them glow for her.

The front door swung open and Kim bounced into their apartment, pulling Carri out of her thoughts. "Hello." She greeted.

Carri looked up and smiled at her. This was the first time that day she had seen Kim. Both of them took off at separate times for classes that morning. So this was the first time she noticed the new piece of jewelry around her neck. "Does someone have a secret admirer?"

Kim smiled as she absentmindedly touched her new necklace. "Tommy gave it to me last night. It was a late birthday present."

"Did you two go out on a date?" Carri questioned, suddenly both happy and angry. Happy because it was about damn time, peeved because she could believe Kim went on a date without telling her.

"No. We're not dating." The pink ranger replied firmly. She'd love for it to be a date, but she wasn't sure he was ready to date. This was nothing more than two friends going out.

Carri raised an eyebrow as she studied the necklace. "That's nice jewelry for not dating." It must have set Tommy back a good bit. It might not have been a date, but that jewelry said he wanted to get back together with her badly.

Kim plopped down on the couch beside Carri. "We're just friends." The tone in her voice indicated that it was somewhat of a disappointment.

"For now." Carri smiled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kim asked, wondering if she knew something she wasn't sharing. If Tommy said something to someone she'd very much like to know.

"Please." Carri said as she rolled her eyes. "Kat's with dippy now and you're back. You know, I know, Jason, Rocky and probably Rita and Zedd know that the boy is gonna ask you out."

"Maybe. But for now, you guys just have to accept that we are just friends."

Carri let out a snort. "Whatever." Tommy was her friend too and for her birthday he got her a Starbucks gift card.

"Whatcha watching?" Kim asked trying to change the subject. They both knew how she felt about the Tommy situation; they didn't need to dwell on it.

"Ya know, I haven't really figured that out yet. Some really weird movie, I found it while flipping through the channels."

"Is that Brad Pitt?" Kim asked, a grin spreading across her face.

Carri looked over at her friend and tweaked the corner of her mouth up. "Yeah. Why do you think I stopped on this crap?"

The girls laughed. When the laughter died down and there was a pause, Kim spoke. "So what's on the agenda for this afternoon?" asked Kim.

"See if Brad gets naked," she replied with a goofy grin on her face. "Really though, I'm not sure."

Kim smiled at her friend. "Did you forget what day it was?"

The yellow ranger glanced at her friend like a cat about to hit up the catnip. She reached into her back pocket and produced a credit card that had her name on it. Clothes spending ability was her favorite perk she got from being the daughter of a rich producer. "The new section of the mall opened today."

"Yes and you know good and well that we have to break it in." Kim said. By break it in, she meant shop until their fingers fell off and they couldn't walk another inch.

Carri hopped up and gave Kim the remote. "Give me five minutes, if Brad gets naked, yell."

She laughed as her friend ran off to get ready to go shopping. "You think Kat would want to come?"

The sharp click of Carri's tongue gave her opinion on the situation. She sighed and yelled out of her room toward Kim. "I donno, is Chris going?"

Kim rolled her eyes more for herself than anything. "Of course not."

"Then Kat probably doesn't want to go. But you can call her and ask if you want." Kat didn't want to do anything that didn't involve Chris. The two cousins used to hang out a lot. However she wasn't a huge fan of Chris and even though Kat knew this she thought that if Chris was around enough Carri would warm up to him. So far she was still a giant cube of ice.

"What's up with her and Chris? It seems as though she never wants to hang out with us girls anymore." Kim knew Carri and Kat used to hang out all the time. She thought perhaps the three of them could hang out when she got back, that maybe she could get Kat to forgive her for the Florida incident and that they could be friends.

"I don't know." Carri said with emphasis on the don't. "I called Kat last weekend to ask her if she wanted to go to the movies with us. She said that she would check with Chris and see if he wanted to go. It's a friggin chick flick. He wouldn't want to go. She said Chris likes chick flicks. I debated questioning his sexual orientation but I left it. Then I told her it was kinda a girl thing and she said that was ok she forgot she and Chris had plans anyway."

"Well I should invite her. Maybe we can get her to come."

The yellow ranger shrugged, although her friend couldn't see it. "Be my guest." She knew what the outcome would be.

Kim reached over and grabbed her phone. She flipped through the contacts, found Kat, and gave the number a call.

The pink ranger picked up on the second ring. "Hello?"

"Hey." Kim greeted cheerfully.

"Hey Kim, what's going on?" She was somewhat surprised to get a call from Kim. They hadn't talked much since she came back from the games. She knew things had happened, but it had all worked out for the best in the end. She was hoping they could eventually mend those ties.

"Not much. Me and Carri are going over to the mall to check out the new section, do you want to come?" Kim asked, getting directly to the point.

The mall sounded like fun, but she had other plans at the moment. "Chris and I are going out to lunch but maybe we can meet you guys over there later."

Kim rolled her eyes. Because what they really wanted to do was go shopping with Chris. "Yeah maybe."

"I'll call you when we're done." Kat promised. She hoped they had time. Shopping would be fun.

"Alright. Talk to you then." Kim tried to remain cheerful.

"Bye." Kat said as they hung up.

"I think we've lost her." Kim said with a frown as Carri appeared from her room.

Carri scrunched her face up. "She won't come will she?" She didn't know why she expected the answer to be anything different. Kat's life was centered on Chris now and there was no room for girl time.

"She said maybe after her and Chris eat lunch that they would stop by." Kim said, rolling her eyes once more at the thought of Chris tagging along.

"Please Kat has been shopping with me. She knows it is an event, why in the hell would Chris want to tag along." Carri let out a grunt as she stepped up behind Kim, putting her elbows on the back of the couch and resting her head in her hands. "Whatever happened to girl time? Doesn't he have male friends he wants to hang out with?"

"Maybe she's hanging out with his friends." Kim was trying to come up with some sort of theory.

"When would she have time? The two of them do hang out with us on occasion. Add class, dance lessons and rangering and she's got a pretty full week." Plus she didn't think anybody in their right mind would actually want to hang out with Chris's friends.

Kim shrugged. "Maybe they are still in the new phase of their relationship. Maybe after a few more weeks she'll be back to wanting to have girl time." She would love for Kat to hang out with them some but sometimes you have to wait for the newness to wear off of a relationship.

"Maybe." Carri said, shrugging as she stood straight up. "But for now, I believe we have a mall to get to."

"Damn straight." Kim smiled as she stood up and turned off the TV, throwing the remote on the couch before joining Carri and heading out the door.

* * *

Lord Zedd was sitting on his throne when a figure materialized in front of him. "Well look who's back." He said, not bothering to try and hide his anger from the Olympian goddess.

"Hello Zedd." Callisto said with a smile, ignoring his tone. She was in too good of a mood at the moment. She had a plan. "I came back to take care of some unfinished business."

"Which would be?" Zedd prompted. As far as he was concerned, she had a lot of unfinished business. Starting with getting rid of those rangers.

"I owe the green ranger a little bit of payback." Callisto told him, a snarl coming across her lips.

"For what?" He asked. Last he checked Jason hadn't done anything particularly horrifying to get her attention.

She glared at him. She didn't like her motives being questioned but she decided to answer him anyway. "For embarrassing me a goddess, in front of Xena and Hercules."

"Hey Goldie, look, it's Calli." Rito commented as he and Goldar entered the throne room.

Goldar glared at his accomplice, then backed away just before Callisto flung him to the other side of the room. "Callisto, may I ask, what brings you to our palace?" He gave her a slight bow as he spoke, and Zedd shot him a look.

"What do you think.", she snapped. She had already told Zedd and was in no mood to repeat herself.

"The destruction of the power rangers?" He asked, although it was a question that need not be answered.

"Just one." She replied, the crazy goddess in her pulling itself to the surface as she let out a little laugh.

Goldar was fairly certain that was obvious as well. "Carri?"

"Jason. Although, Carri would be an added bonus." She hadn't thought about killing the yellow ranger this time but it would be nice.

"What is it exactly that you want from us?" Zedd asked her. She wouldn't have stopped in if she didn't want something from them.

"Word has it that your wife has an infinite number of dark dimensions. I want to use one." Callisto replied. Sure she had plenty of hiding spots. However there was something delightfully fun about a dark dimension. She could hunt one out, but it would be much easier to borrow one.

"That would not be a problem. Rita!" He hollered. If all she wanted was a dark dimension, he'd point her in the right direction then send the crazy goddess away.

"What?" Rita screeched as she walked into the room. She glared at Callisto "Oh, you're here."

"Callisto is going to use one of your dark dimensions to destroy the green ranger." Zedd explained hoping his wife would chose not to make a fuss over it.

"Hmph. Good luck. You're welcome to use this one but I don't think you'll get any results." she said, a piece of paper materializing in her hands with coordinates for one of her dimensions. She was done using the dark dimensions to destroy the rangers. It never worked out well.

The goddess glared at her. "Don't underestimate me." And with that, she disappeared to Rita's dark dimension to start working on her evil plan.

* * *

Jason wandered into his apartment around five thirty, after his lab had ended. The apartment was empty, but that was to be expected. He had heard that the new section of the mall was finally opening that day, and it didn't take a genius to figure out where the girls had gone. Billy, of course, was off helping Zordon.

Jason rummaged through the fridge to find a cold drink. He didn't see anything exciting, so he settled for juice. As Jason sat down to watch TV, there was a knock at the door. He wasn't expecting anybody, and he doubted that anyone else was. Rocky and Tommy tend to just let themselves in. He got up and walked over to the door. Peering through the peephole, a smile came across his face.

"Well look who came home." Jason said opening the door to reveal his visitors.

"We had to come back for a visit." Zack replied, grinning as he leaned in to give his old friend a hug.

Trini hugged Jason as well. "Yes, we haven't been to Angel Grove in so long and now that we've got new jobs in Geneva it will probably be even longer before we come back."

"New jobs?" Jason asked as he motioned for his friends to come in and shut the door behind them.

"We're working for a council up there that promotes peace." Zack told him. "It's an extension of the conference. It's an amazing opportunity."

"That's great guys." Jason replied. He gestured toward the couch, and the three of them walked over there and sat down. There was a few seconds of silence before Jason spoke. "So... how did you find me here?" He hated to admit to it, but since the semester started he hadn't had a chance to write to them. They had no clue where his current address was.

"Billy." Trini replied, smiling at her friend. "We've been sending each other letters."

"Really?" Jason asked. He had no clue that Billy and Trini had been talking. Although he shouldn't be surprised, he always thought his friend had a thing for the yellow ranger.

Trini smiled. "Yes. I didn't realize how much I missed him until he wrote me one day." It was really nice to get a letter from him. It made her want to come home and visit to see him.

"Speaking of Billy, where is he?" asked Zack as he glanced around the apartment.

"The Power Chamber, of course." replied Jason. He wasn't sure if he was that devoted to the rangers, or to learning the technology, but either way he was up there all the time and the rangers were a better team because of it.

"And Kim?" he asked, looking for the last of the original rangers.

Jason chuckled. "The mall opened up a new section. I don't think I have to tell you the rest."

Zack laughed. "Of course. She went shopping." That didn't surprise him one bit.

"Do you think she will be home soon?" asked Trini. She'd love to see her friend.

He shrugged. "She went with Carri and the mall closes at nine so…"

"I take it Carri's a shopper." Zack said. He remembered Kim's shopping habits. If she could get someone to keep up with her they were in trouble.

"Carri and Kim can make a sport out of it." he replied laughing. Suddenly, Jason's cell phone went off. "Sorry guys. Let me grab it real quick." Jason glanced at the caller ID. He smiled as he picked up. "We were just talking about you."

"A, who's we? And B, is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Carri asked, debating whether or not to be annoyed.

"You'll find out, on both accounts." He said his tone intentionally suspicious to irk her a bit. "So what's up?"

"Me and Kim are going out to eat. We are trying to get everyone to join. You in?" They'd hit every store in the new section that afternoon and had both come to the conclusion that shopping was a workout.

"But of course, only if I can bring some friends." He quickly amended.

"Did Emily come by?" It would make sense if it was Emily that he was talking to.

He shook his head. "I don't expect to see her until I go down there tomorrow."

"Then who are your friends?" Carri questioned, putting her free hand on her hip and glaring at the phone.

Jason could tell by the tone of her voice what the look on her face must be and he smiled. "It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you. Just plan for two more."

"Fine then." She said with a huff. He could be all secretive about it. She'd figure it out soon enough. "Talk to ya later."

"Later." He said hanging up the phone. "That was Carri. She was calling to invite me to dinner and you guys are coming too."

"Is everybody going to be there?" Zack asked, excited to see the rest of the gang. Jason nodded. "We'll let's get going then."

The trio got up and took off, leaving the apartment for the time being.

* * *

Kim and Carri sat down at the long table at Outback waiting for their friends to arrive. "So is this really Australian eating?" Kim said with a smile as she glanced over at her friend.

Carri shrugged as if to say "eh". "When I was real little and my dad actually cooked for us, he did make a mean steak." It had been a good ten years since she'd had a steak that her dad cooked. Her dad hired someone to do all the cooking, however for a while they'd have family night where he'd cook for them and they'd have fun. When she was around nine, family time became sitting at the dinner table an eating whatever their chef cooked every night. Between her and her brother's extra-curriculars, her mother's social life, and her father's work and work related trips, by the time they made it to New York, it was a good week if they all managed to sit down at the table together one night a week.

"What are you talking about? Of course this is authentic Australian eating." Their waiter said, winking at them as he placed coasters down on the table.

"I may be hard to convince." Carri said she looked up at him. "The American part of me may be fooled; it's the Australian part that knows better." She finished with a smile.

He smiled back at her. "I wouldn't peg you for an Aussie."

"Don't let her fool you. She may have been born there, but she is more of a California girl than anything. She only came back to visit her family two weeks each during summer and winter breaks." Kat said, sitting down with her boyfriend across from the two girls.

"See there's an authentic Australian accent." The waiter replied as he grinned at Kat.

"Don't listen to her. Just because I don't have an accent doesn't mean I'm still not half Australian. Just the half of me that was raised in California stands out more." She defended her heritage. Nobody ever believed she was born oversees.

Their waiter leaned on the table beside Carri. "So what can I get you to drink?"

"Cokes for us please." Chris said as he scooted in closer to Kat. Carri and Kim smiled outwardly while trying not to roll their eyes as they ordered their drinks.

"Is the rest of your party on their way?" he asked before he left to get their beverages.

"I sure hope so." Kim replied. The others would get here eventually but she had developed a Rocky sized appetite after not really eating lunch and she was ready to order.

The waiter nodded and took off. The foursome started to talk a bit, with Kim and Carri looking around for the rest of their crew and hoping they would get there shortly.

It wasn't long before Rocky walked in, followed by Billy. "Hey babe, what's up?" Rocky asked, giving Carri a kiss and then sitting down beside her.

Carri resisted the urge to say something about being stuck there with Chris. "Not much. Just waiting for all you pokey people to get here."

"Well I for one was not being pokey, I was busy." Billy said sitting down beside Rocky. He had a project that he couldn't leave half finished. He didn't have to explain it though; he knew they didn't mind his tardiness.

"How was the mall?" Rocky asked. He didn't get their obsession. A mall was a mall. He only went there if he needed new baseball equipment, otherwise there wasn't much interesting to do.

Kim smiled. "We came, we saw, we conquered." The girls laughed.

"In other words you purchased?" he asked. He didn't get how Carri and Kim bought so many clothes. He didn't know what they did with them all. Plus he was surprised their parents let them do it.

"Just a few things." Carri said smiling. Few was a bit of an understatement, but he didn't have to know that. "It's really cool. You will have to come check it out sometime." she said glancing over to her cousin.

"I will. Just by the time we got done with lunch we figured you guys were probably knee deep in shopping so we would just go some other time." she replied. She had been shopping with Carri before. It was a marathon event. As much as she'd love to drop by, it wasn't Chris's scene so she decided to skip it.

Their waiter came back and wedged in between Carri and Rocky to set the drinks down. Rocky looked up at their waiter and rested his arm on the top of Carri's chair. The waiter backed up. Carri caught Kim's eye and smiled. The waiter was kind of harmlessly flirting earlier but Rocky put a quick stop to that. She had told Kim that he sometimes got jealous. Not that he didn't trust her, he just didn't like other guys trying to hit on her. Their waiter took the boys drink orders and left again.

"I wish everyone would hurry up I'm starving." Rocky commented removing his arm and flipping through the menu.

"Wait, let me guess, whenever Tommy hurries up and gets here we can eat right?" Jason asked as he and his two guests walked in.

Everyone looked up and over at him. Billy smiled as he and Kim were the first two to jump up. "It is so good to see you guys!" Kim exclaimed giving her two friends a hug. She knew Jason was bringing guests and these were probably the two best guests he could have come up with.

Billy gave Zack a hug, and then smiled at Trini before giving her a hug as well. "How long are you here for?" he asked as he released her. He was hoping they were staying for a while.

"Just a few weeks, we are starting a new job in Geneva soon." She told him. She was grateful to have this break; it almost didn't work out that way.

"Really? That's great." Billy replied. Although he did mean it, seeing Trini there kind of made him hope that his friends would stick around.

"How are you guys doing?" Rocky asked as he turned around and smiled at them. He didn't know them as well as the others; he was redistricted into Angel Grove High right before they left for the Peace Conferences. Still, they were all friends and all had the rangers in common.

"Doing good." Zack replied with a grin.

Jason looked at the table, trying to judge who knew who. "You know Carri kind of already right?" They nodded. She turned and smiled and said hello. "Have you met Kat?" he asked.

"Not officially." Trini replied. They had seen Kat the onetime Callisto captured them but they were never properly introduced.

"Guys this is Carri's cousin Katherine, but we all call her Kat. Kat, meet Zack and Trini, and this is her boyfriend Chris." Jason said doing the introductions. Chris had been an afterthought, but he had to introduce him too. He wasn't fond of him for a number of reasons and was kind of hoping he'd have other commitments that night.

"Nice meeting you." Kat said as Chris smiled and nodded.

"Is that... Zack and Trini?" a voice piped up from behind before Trini and Zack could respond to Kat.

Zack turned and grinned as the last of the group that they really knew headed their way. "Tommy, how are you?" he asked as he hugged an old friend.

"I'm doing fine, how about you guys." Tommy said as he gave them both a hug.

"Doing good. We thought we could come by for a visit before we started our new jobs." Trini told him, explaining their visit for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

"So the Peace Conferences are done?" asked Tommy. He knew the original conference they went for ended almost a year ago, which was why Jason returned. They all had the option to stay for a second set of conferences but he declined.

"For the most part. One of the things that came out of the conferences was a council in Geneva, which we were asked to stay and be a part of." Zack explained.

"Wow, that's great." Kim congratulated her friends. It was a bummer they would not be stateside permanently but she was happy for their opportunity.

There was a silence over the group. "Why don't we all sit down so we can eat." suggested Jason.

Billy and Kim returned to their seats. Tommy took the open seat beside Kim. Trini and Zack sat in the two seats across from Rocky and Billy. And Jason took the last remaining seat beside Kat.

"This is so cool. It's just like old times." Kim said smiling and looking at the original rangers. It had been years since they all sat down to hang out together.

"Better than old times I would hope." Rocky said, a smile creeping across his face. Old times meant half of the table wouldn't be there, and he kinda liked the way things turned out.

Kim thought for a moment. "You're right. Not only do I have my four best friends I started high school with, but all the stragglers we have picked up along the way." she smiled as she put an arm around Tommy, then one around Carri, while reaching over to grab Rocky's shoulder.

"Tommy's almost been around long enough to be considered an original." Jason said smiling. Original referencing the rangers, but not only were they in a restaurant but they had Kat's date there too.

"That's right. It wasn't too far into our freshman year when he showed up." Zack continued his train of thought. They had all been friends for a while, but high school changed everything. They became closer, they started rangering, and they started making new friends like Tommy.

Kim smiled. "I remember. Well these guys..." she paused and pointed to Rocky, Carri, Kat and Chris, "are defiantly stragglers."

"How long have you guys known each other?" asked Chris, suddenly feeling very much the outcast of the group. They had known each other for ages and he was trying to slip in and be accepted. It may be harder than he thought.

"That's a complicated story." Jason said. It wasn't like they all met at one time. There have been random meetings over the last 19 years.

"I've known her all my life." Carri said as she pointed to Kat. The table laughed. She grinned in response then continued. "Or at least I have known her all her life." She amended. She was the older of the two cousins.

"Zack, Carri and I were friends through the third grade. Then we didn't see each other again until last summer." Trini said once the laughter died down. "The school redrew the lines and sent us all off to different schools."

"That was when Trini, Zack, Billy, Kim and I first met, although we didn't become friends until middle school." Jason continued on.

"We met Tommy during our freshman year of high school, and Rocky almost a year later." Kim added, reflecting back on first meetings with everyone as she spoke.

"That's when me, Jase and Trini took off for the peace conferences." Zack pointed out.

"I was at the conferences until, what, a little over a year ago?" Jason asked. The others nodded. He came back because he missed his friends and family, he wanted to try to help out the rangers, and he wanted to finish out school at Angel Grove as opposed to getting a distance education high school diploma from his alma mater.

"I came to the states almost a year after they left, during our junior year." Kat added. They had kind of skipped a bit of time where both she and her cousin came in. It wasn't intentional, but she had to get them to back up a bit.

"Thankfully. I spent two in a half years trying to convince my parents let me go back to Angel Grove. It wasn't until you came that I had a leg to stand on.", Carri said

"So you came to Angel Grove with Kat?", asked Chris

"Not quite. It took me the rest of my junior year to convince my parents. Then they made me stay all summer. So it wasn't until the day before school started that they finally let me go." She explained. She looked around the table. "So as you can see, I'm the newbie."

"Well actually I'm the newbie, unless you don't include me in your group." Chris corrected. He wasn't sure what their reaction to that was, but he was Kat's boyfriend and if she was in he was in by default.

Kat put an arm around him. "Of course we do." She said, oblivious to the action on the other side of the table. Carri opened her mouth, and although she wasn't going to say anything to hurt his feelings she changed her mind, making a pained face when Kim pinched her leg.

He smiled at his girlfriend before glancing toward everyone else. "You know you're going to have to take me to Angel Grove and show me around. Maybe I can understand what's so special about it that you guys like to come back."

"I came back because I missed it. The town, my friends, even my extracurricular activities." Jason said. The Peace Conferences were good, but he wanted to come back home.

"I know that feeling. I was crushed to leave all of my friends behind. I loved the town, the hangouts, the sun, the beach... let me tell you, my first winter in New York I about died. I went to bed one night and woke up and looked out the window and there was a foot and a half of snow, with the blizzard still dumping it. I hid myself back in bed and when my brother tried to get me to come out in it, I asked him if he'd flipped his lid." Carri gave a slight shudder at the thought of all the snow. It was nice if your parents were taking you for a vacation to Aspen, but it lost its appeal when it was in front of your window every day for what felt like months.

Rocky laughed. "Well we certainly don't get that kind of weather around here." His girlfriend was definitely not a snow bunny. He finally convinced her to go to Angel Grove Pines one weekend last December. While she had fun, she was yearning for sandy beaches by the time the weekend was over.

"You wouldn't have lasted in Europe." Jason told her. Where they stayed they got snow often.

She looked down the table at him and raised an eyebrow. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you didn't last in Europe."

"She's got you there." Zack said with a grin.

Jason smiled. He didn't have much to say to that. He certainly wasn't going to indicate she was right. Before she could probe him further, their waiter returned to the table to get everyone else's drinks and to start taking orders, after he left, the group continued to tell stories and have a good time while they were waiting for their dinner to arrive.

* * *

"Look at them. All in one place. They are all so innocent looking. It makes me sick." Rita said as she peered through her telescope to spy on them. She wanted to throw something at them to destroy them all right there. That would show Zordon.

"If I had the same powers as Callisto, I would throw one giant fireball down at them, catching them off guard and destroying them all." Zedd said wishfully, his thoughts following his wife's.

"Well you don't." Rita snapped looking over at him. "All we've got are our monsters and them." she said slinging a finger in Goldar and Rito's direction. They were all but useless.

Zedd smiled. "I have been working on a plan." He ignored her outburst for the most part. He was as frustrated as she was. They were no closer now than they had been before the Machine Empire.

"And you haven't shared?" Rita asked, her hands coming up to her hips.

"It is not perfected yet. Once I have all of the details ready to put into play, I will share it with you." Zedd assured her. It was his little surprise.

Rita made a face. "I don't think I can stand all the suspense."

"This is something I have been working on for a while. Hopefully in the next few weeks it will be ready."

"Weeks?" Rita whined, her hands coming to her head as she felt the beginnings of a headache.

"It will go by. Besides, for now we must let Callisto have her fun." He wasn't about to interfere with her. She was powerful and she was crazy and that was one enemy he wasn't in the mood to have to deal with.

"And fun it will be." Callisto said as she appeared back from the dimension.

"Are you going to get the green ranger?" asked Rita, her patience wearing thin. The rangers were bobbing around on Earth having fun and their next plan wasn't going to take shape for a while.

"Not yet." She replied. "I just need one more thing from you. Within a few hours, I will be ready for him. Then he will know the price for embarrassing a goddess."

* * *

Jason stood in the kitchen the next morning eating breakfast. It was too early. And they had all stayed up too late the night before. But he had to get up early so he could surprise Emily early. She knew he was coming down, she just didn't expect him until later.

As he stood there he heard a door creek open, and footsteps coming down the hall. He looked as the sleepy figure materialized before him. "I didn't wake you did I?"

She smiled. "An earthquake couldn't wake me." Carri told him. She rarely got up and moving early. Only her communicator could motivate her. "I woke up with a dry throat. I just need some water." She walked over toward the cabinet and got out a glass, then filled it with water. She leaned against the sink and turned to Jason. "You going to see Emily?"

"Yeah." He replied, a small smile forming. "I actually get to spend the entire weekend with her. It's been too long since I've gotten to do that."

She smiled at him. "I'm glad. You guys deserve some time." She knew he loved going to school here, but he missed his girlfriend. They both led busy lives, it was hard for the two of them to make time for each other.

"What are you doing today?" he asked. He figured it would have something to do with the former rangers who were visiting. He didn't feel bad that he couldn't see them today, but they would be here for a while.

She shrugged. "Going back to sleep." She said, a snarky smile forming.

He rolled his eyes. "After that?"

"Donno. Rocky has to work all afternoon today." She thought about it for a moment before she continued. "This is fine, if Zack and Trini don't have plans I am sure we will all get together."

"When was the last time you guys had an entire weekend?" he asked, referencing her and her boyfriend.

"Ha." She said as she snorted. "We did get one in December but other than that," she paused as she shrugged, "at least we see each other during the week. And the weekends aren't bad. He works later on Saturdays, but only in the mornings on Sundays."

"Is he still going sparring with Tommy?" That was their Saturday ritual. Meeting in the mornings and sparring at the Youth Center like they used to.

"Just because you have better things to do doesn't mean they don't. This is the one day a week you guys get to spar." It used to be an almost daily thing. It was weird that they didn't get to go during the week.

"I know. I miss being able to go down there more often." He knew Rocky and Tommy felt the same way he did. He had spent his entire time at Angel Grove High sparring in the Youth Center and now it was too far to go on a daily basis.

"Yeah but LA's fabulous, and we are still close enough to home." She pointed out. She didn't have anything holding her to Angel Grove. Her aunt and uncle were there, but she hardly saw them before she moved in with them and this was no different. She did miss Ernie and Emily, but she was still in southern California which is what was most important.

"True. I just miss seeing Emily."

Carri put her glass in the sink. She smiled at her friend. "I should go down there some Saturdays while you guys are there. I haven't talked to Emily in a while. Not to mention I miss Ernie's burgers."

"Emily misses you guys too." Emily and Carri had gotten close since they had been dating. He knew that his girlfriend would love to see her more.

"I know. It's been a few weeks since I've been back. Well not counting monster attacks... but tell Emily I said hello." She made a mental note to go to Angel Grove and have a beach day soon, hang out with Emily some and stop by the Youth Center.

He gave her a slight nod. "I will."

Carri walked past Jason and turned to go back to bed. "Have fun this weekend."

He smiled. He planned on it. "See you when I get back."

As Carri was exiting the kitchen, a figure appeared in front of her. Her eyes got wide. "You!" she exclaimed, going from half asleep to alert as she shifted into fighting stance.

"Hello." Callisto greeted as she threw Carri across the room. Carri hit her head hard on the wall and slid down to the floor unconscious. She didn't want her, not now anyway. She would get her later.

"Leave her alone!" Jason yelled, moving in and preparing to fight the goddess over the life of his friend.

Callisto grabbed him by the throat and smiled. "Done." she said and they both disappeared.

* * *

Minutes later Jason found himself chained to a wall in one of Rita's dark dimensions. "What do you want with me?" he asked her with a growl. He didn't think he'd done anything to get her attention, at least not over Carri.

"Isn't it obvious?" she asked as she hit him across the face. She grabbed his jaw and made him look her in the eyes. "You embarrassed me. It's the least I can do to torture you."

He embarrassed her? He thought about it for a moment before remembering his recent trip into the past. He didn't know why she'd just now come after him for that, he supposed it had something to do with time travel but he didn't know. It didn't matter though; he knew how this was going to end. "My friends will find me."

She laughed. "Maybe. It would just be an added bonus. What better way to torture someone then to kill their friends slowly and painfully in front of them." That would be icing on the cake.

Jason jumped out at her as far as his chains would allow. She stepped back and laughed at him as she let the torture begin.

* * *

Kim crawled out of bed later that morning. She looked down the hall. Billy's door was still closed. Jason's was open. He had left to go see his girlfriend that morning. Carri's room door was open too. She could not imagine what could have gotten her out of bed that early. She wasn't sure if even an early bird sale would do the trick.

Kim walked out of the hallway and into the living room and that's when she saw her friend crumpled up against the wall. She ran over to her. "Carri!" she exclaimed, grabbing her by the shoulder and shaking her. She hoped maybe her friend sat down and fell asleep in a weird spot, but in the lives of rangers things were never that easy.

Carri lay still for a moment. Kim called her name and shook her once more. Carri's eyes fluttered open and she slowly focused on the image in front of her. "Kim?"

"Oh my gosh, Carri, what happened?" She was trying not to freak out yet but her friend looked less coherent than she did when she woke up in the mornings.

Carri's eyes darted around the small apartment, a sense of dread washing over her. "Where's Jason?"

"He went to see Emily this morning, remember?" Kim said gently. Perhaps her friend simply fell and hit her head and didn't know what was going on.

Carri sat up and looked oddly at her friend. He hadn't gone to see Emily. Even if Callisto had for some reason let him go, he wouldn't have left her until he knew she was ok. She stood up, pausing briefly when her head started to throb. Choosing to ignore that sensation, she tore off for her room with Kim right behind her.

"Carri maybe you need to sit down, you hit your head, things may be a little fuzzy right now." Her friend seemed frantic, she was worried. Maybe she needed to wake Billy up. He'd be able to take her to the Power Chamber and have a look at her.

Ignoring her, Carri grabbed her communicator. "Jason?" she called paging him. She knew he wouldn't respond, still she had to try.

She heard the faint noise of a communicator going off. She ran back out to the kitchen and called Jason again. She heard the noise louder when she got out there. Then she found it. Laying on the floor near the kitchen was Jason's communicator.

Carri knelt on the floor to pick it up. Kim came and knelt down beside her. "What's going on?" Kim asked worried more now that the fact that Carri's erratic behavior was ranger related was becoming clear.

"She was here." Carri replied angrily as she subconsciously balled her hand into a fist.

"She? Who she?" Kim asked, knowing that there weren't any good answers that would get this kind of reaction from the yellow ranger.

"Callisto." she said standing up. "She must have taken Jason with her." Carri went back down the hallway towards her room. "Wake Billy up. I'm going to change. We'll need everybody in the Power Chamber. This is an emergency."

* * *

Ten minutes later the four rangers and Billy met in the Power Chamber, most of them wondering what was going on. "Alpha what's so urgent?" Rocky asked as he stepped toward the little robot who paged him.

Alpha turned and looked to Carri. She was the one who summoned them here; she needed to fill everyone in. She nodded and looked at the others. "Callisto has Jason." She said simply. There was no need to sugar coat it, nothing could be done about that fact. They needed to know what was going on so they could find the bitch and rid the world of her.

"What?" Tommy questioned angrily. How did she come down and kidnap one of the rangers, one of his friends like that.

"He was leaving this morning... she came in, knocked me out, and took him and left." She tried to speed through the detail about her getting knocked out. It wasn't important. She was fine and ready to go after the blonde Olympian.

"Are you ok?" Rocky asked stepping toward her and putting a hand on her arm. It drove him crazy sometimes that Callisto wanted her dead and that they never knew when she'd show up. He tried not to worry about her constantly but the thought seeped into his mind now and then.

"I'm peachy." Carri said, trying to end that quickly. "She wanted Jason; I was just in her way."

"Why would she be after Jason?" asked Kat. It didn't make sense. She wanted to kill Carri; the rest of the team was just an afterthought.

The others look thoughtful. Billy was the first to speak. "Could it have anything to do with what happened when we went to ancient Greece?"

"Callisto has already proven that she holds a long grudge." Alpha pointed out. That was why she despised Carri.

"Zordon's right. She hates us because she hates our relatives." Tommy said pointing to himself and Carri. They were doomed to clash with her from the start.

"So what exactly happened in Greece?" asked Rocky, veering the conversation back to where it needed to be.

Billy looked over at his friends. "She was burning villages. Xena and Hercules were having trouble handling her. Jason said we should help. He said the Ninjetti rangers should attack. We did and we... well although we may have all attacked, Jason embarrassed her."

"And she's been holding a grudge since then." Carri said. It would make sense she wouldn't forget that. Although why wait until now to go after Jason she didn't know.

"If she vowed revenge on Jason in the past she may not have been able to remember until we went back in time." Billy tried to offer an explanation. Time travel was complicated. Although the event happened in the past already, technically it didn't happen until they went back from the future to ensure it happened.

"And now that you jogged her memory, she's pissed." Rocky pointed out what they were all thinking.

"So what can we do?" asked Kat, obviously worried about their friend.

"Can we scan for him?" asked Carri, her mind already racing with what they could do to save him.

Billy thought for a moment. "We can try. Although he doesn't have his communicator, and he isn't morphed, so it might be easier to scan for Callisto. If she's been waiting for this revenge that long I doubt she's going to leave him until she's finished."

Tommy looked at Billy. "I don't think I need to say this, but we have to do this quickly. I don't think time is on our side."

Billy nodded as he took Alpha and went off to start working.

* * *

Emily woke up early Saturday morning. She was excited, and with good reason. She was finally going to get to spend a weekend with her boyfriend. She hoped he would arrive quickly. She got dressed and waited for him. By noon, he still hadn't shown. She was starting to get worried.

Emily picked up the phone and dialed his number. The phone rang a few times, then his voicemail picked up. "Hey Jase, it's me... I just wanted to know where you were at. Call me." She sighed as she hung up the phone.

"What's wrong?" asked her friend and roommate Jennifer as she came in and sat down beside her.

"It's Jason. All week we've been talking about getting to spend the weekend together. And now he's nowhere to be found." Emily explained. She hoped he wasn't blowing her off. It wasn't like him, but he had disappeared on her before.

Jennifer put an arm around her friend. "Maybe something happened, like he got a flat tire."

"He would have called."

"And his phone battery is dead."

Emily smiled. "Maybe." It could certainly be as easy as that.

"Hey there is no need for you to mope around here all day and wait for him. Give me a half an hour to get ready, and then we can go down to the Beach Club and grab lunch, and I'll wait with you until he gets there." Jennifer suggested.

She thought for a moment. "You know... that's actually not a bad idea."

Jennifer smiled as she hopped up and went to the shower. Emily picked up the phone and called Jason back. She waited for the voicemail to pick up. "Hey Jase, if you get here in the next thirty or forty-five minutes, come by my place. If not, just meet me at the Beach Club." Emily smiled as she hung up the phone. Jason probably just got hung up that morning. She was sure that by the time they finished eating lunch; Jason would be there to take her out.

* * *

Billy let out a sigh of relief. It had taken him over two hours and he worked straight through lunch, but by that afternoon he had found them. Billy went to page his friends. Four flashes of light came in almost together.

"Did you find him?" Tommy asked the moment he materialized.

"I found Callisto in one of Rita's dark dimensions. However, there is no doubt that there is Zeo energy in there with her." Billy told them. He picked up on it immediately. Jason was there.

"Can we teleport him out?" asked Kat. That would certainly be easiest, and it would save them a fight against Callisto.

"No. Unfortunately Callisto put up some sort of device prohibiting anybody from teleporting out. However, we can teleport in." Billy said. That had bad idea written all over it, but they didn't have much of a choice.

"Well then what are we waiting for?" asked Carri as she moved into position to morph.

Rocky reached over and grabbed her arm. "She's going to let us in but not out? Something's not right about that."

"Rocky's right." Tommy agreed. As much as he wanted to rescue Jason, they had to be smart about it. "Besides, what do we do once we get there?"

"I would imagine that whatever is keeping people from teleporting out can be destroyed, but that is just speculation." Billy said. He couldn't get a good read on the area. There was no real reason for the teleportation block other than a machine of some sort but it was hard to say for certain.

Carri looked around at her friends. "Guys we have to. This is Callisto. She will kill him."

Kat nodded. "She's right we have to try." She didn't want to go either, but she knew what Callisto was capable of.

The boys looked at each other. They weren't sure that this was such a good idea. But they knew the girls were right. "We just have to be careful. She'll kill us too." Rocky said looking at his girlfriend. Anytime Callisto comes back he worries about her and with good reason. He didn't know what he would do if Callisto really hurt Carri or even worse... well he didn't want to think about it. As if reading his mind, Carri reached over and squeezed his hand.

"We'll all come back in one piece. I promise." she said. She thought she might die as a ranger one day, but she'd be damned if she let it be against Callisto.

He smiled at her. "Let's do this."

"It's morphin time!" yelled Tommy as he shifted his stance.

"Zeo ranger one, pink!"

"Zeo ranger two, yellow!"

"Zeo ranger three, blue!"

"Zeo ranger five, red!"

* * *

Jason was crumpled up against the wall. Every bone in his body ached. He wasn't sure how much longer he could hold on. He hoped that she would think she had defeated him, and release his arms. Then he could morph. He may or may not be able to get out of there, but at least he would stand a fighting chance.

Callisto stood in front of him and lifted his head up. She smiled. "What to do with you now... there's so much to try... torture has always been my favorite thing you know."

Jason managed a weak laugh. "Do your worst." he hissed although he didn't really mean it.

She let out a crazy laugh. "If you think that you are going to be fortunate enough to see the worst I can do to you right now, you are sadly mistaken. No, that would be too kind." She paused as she thought about what she wanted to do next. She was so absorbed in what she was working on she never saw the rangers teleport in.

"Hey bitch," Carri spat as she executed one of her power moves, "that was for this morning."

Callisto was flung across the dimension and she hit the wall hard. She smiled as she looked up at the rangers. "I was hoping you'd join us. Now I just have to figure out who I'm going to kill first." She said as she flung all of the rangers back. Then she jumped up prepared to attack.

Jason watched helplessly as Callisto fought his friends. He wanted to help them. She was throwing them around like it was nothing. He looked at them. They looked like they were looking for something. He thought he might have known what it was. There was a device he noticed when she first brought them there, but she had tried to keep it hidden. Callisto, however, wasn't giving them any chance to regroup, let alone find what they were looking for.

"Zeo five power weapon!" Tommy yelled as his sword appeared in his hands. He charged her full on. She fought with him for a few seconds, until she decided she was through. She flung him over in the direction of the rangers. They tried to scatter, but Tommy knocked the other rangers down.

Callisto smiled. This was going better than she could have ever hoped for. While the rangers were on the floor, she started throwing fireballs at them. She watched as they rolled away, afraid for their lives.

They jumped up and tried to attack again. This time it was Rocky and Kat who called for their weapons and ran after her. She defended herself against both of them. Tommy ran up with his sword, hoping the other two rangers had her attention for the moment. She wasn't fooled, and she threw Rocky and Kat down, kicked the sword out of Tommy's hands, and then threw him down as well. She looked at the three rangers.

She was so preoccupied with them that she had completely forgotten about the fourth ranger. Carri picked Tommy's Zeo sword up off the floor, using it to come up behind her and slice her in half. Carri knew it wouldn't do much, except piss her off.

And that it did. Callisto wasted no time grabbing her by the throat and slamming her across the room and into the wall. Carri was slow to get back to her feet. Callisto moved quickly to get by her side. She kicked her down, and as the other rangers were approaching she did a back flip to get behind her hostage. Grabbing Jason's hair she pulled him up and put her sword to his throat.

"Enough!" she yelled, furious that she'd let them play like this. It was going to end now. "Take one more step rangers and I will let you watch him bleed to death."

The rangers stopped dead in their tracks. Carri looked at her friends. She was a few feet from Jason, the others were still halfway across the room. She wanted to do something to help. She saw Rocky shake his head no.

Callisto laughed. "Very good blue ranger. Don't encourage her to do something stupid to get you all killed. Now power down." Not that she wasn't going to kill them all anyway, but she wanted to do it on her own terms.

The rangers were hesitant. "Guys don't do it!" Jason exclaimed as Callisto tightened her grip on him and pulled the sword closer.

"How sweet he wants you to let him give up his life and for what? So he doesn't have to watch me kill you? Well I might kill you," she said pulling him a little closer, "but I will definitely kill him."

The rangers reluctantly powered down. "You rangers. So predictable. You have to save your friends above all else. Now call on your zeonizers."

"We'll never give you our powers." Tommy said. He wanted to save Jason, he was his best friend. However he couldn't let her have their powers.

"Yes you will, your friend's life hangs in the balance." Callisto pointed out. "Besides it's not your powers I want, let's not forget I am a goddess. I just don't want you to use them. So until I see a pile of zeonizers sitting in the middle of all of us I am not letting him go."

The rangers glanced at Tommy, unsure of what they should do. They did not want to give up their powers, but nobody was willing to let Jason die. If there was something, anything, now was the time. Tommy unfortunately was as baffled as the rest of them. After a lot of internal debate, he decided to continue to play along. He was the first to throw down his zeonizers. The others reluctantly followed.

"We followed your demands, now let him go." Tommy ordered, trying to come across as the red ranger in charge. He didn't want her to think that she had gained anything, despite the fact that she had gotten them to give up their zeonizers.

She laughed, amused by his demeanor. "You are in no position to be handing out orders."

"Let him go." Carri said threateningly, as she shifted toward the goddess. They shouldn't have thrown down their powers. She wasn't going to let Callisto get away with this. She would most certainly kill them all.

Callisto shifted quickly and took her sword and put it within millimeters from Carri's heart. "No."

Rocky started to move forward and Callisto turned back to Jason. "One more step and I'll have both of them killed so fast you won't even know what happened."

"What do you want from us?" Kat asked, although she was fairly certain she knew where this was going.

"Well poor Jason is suffering alone I think as his friends you can suffer with him." As she spoke, four more sets of chains appeared on the floor. "Put those on yourselves."

The rangers knew that if they did that, all hope was lost. Callisto would certainly kill all of them. And with her hands on Jason, they didn't know what they could do to stop her.

Jason looked at his friends. He knew what they were thinking. That this was it, he would rather them sacrifice him than let her kill all of them allowing this lunatic bitch to run free. He knew they could never do that though, even though it may have been what was right. He glanced at Callisto. She was staring at the rangers. Well, Rocky, Kat and Tommy. She could see Carri out of the corner of her eye but she wasn't paying her as much attention. Jason quickly made eye contact with his friend. He hoped she understood that he was getting ready to do something. If he could make Callisto let go for even a split second, somebody would be able to make a move.

Jason took a minute to gather all the strength he had left. He couldn't use his hands, so he would have to kick her. She had loosed her grip on him since she had gone after Carri. That certainly helped. He knew if he could kick her right side, she would falter to her left moving her sword away from his throat and giving someone a chance to attack. He made eye contact with Carri one more time and gave her a half smile. Then quickly he swung his leg back and hit Callisto's right side.

As he was starting to kick his leg back, he heard Carri yell something. It seemed like things flew by after that. Callisto, who was busy looking at the other rangers, didn't realize Jason was planning anything until it was too late. She wasn't completely balanced when Jason kicked her, and she wavered to her left. Before she had a chance to think about regaining her composure, the Yellow Panther Ninjetti was on top of her, pulling them both to the ground.

Jason collapsed after Callisto let go. He saw Carri attack her more fiercely than before. With one kick, Carri tore the sword out of Callisto's hands. She picked it up, and turned around and sliced through the metal that was holding Jason there. Callisto leaped on top of her and pulled her to the ground, and they both rolled off. Jason saw his friends pick up their zeonizers and he heard Tommy yell. Jason wasted no time getting in on the action.

"Zeo ranger four, green!"

His friends were quickly at his side. "Are you ok?" asked Tommy, glancing him over.

"I will be." Jason assured him. "Keep her busy."

"Not a problem." Rocky replied as he ran over to help the yellow Ninjetti.

The others quickly joined him. Callisto was so furious that she didn't even notice what Jason was doing. The green ranger had found what he thought the others were looking for. He wasn't sure what it was, but it looked like it was projecting some sort of force field. He decided that what they probably want was it destroyed, so he took the liberty to do it himself. Jason then ran across the floor, scooping up the last set of zeonizers on his way over. He was going to help his friends when before he knew it, the entire team was teleported back to the Power Chamber.

Everybody powered down. "What happened?, asked Tommy as he glanced around.

"Someone destroyed the device that was keeping you there. It took me a few seconds to lock on to your signals and then I got you all out of there." Billy replied. He was relieved to get locks on all of the rangers. He hadn't wasted anytime when their communicator signals popped back up on the grid.

Carri looked panicked. "No, I have to go back, my..."

Jason extended his hand to show what he had picked up. She smiled at him as she took them back. "Thank you."

He smiled. "No, thank you. All of you, if it weren't for you guys..."

Tommy put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "It's us who should be thanking you. You gave us an opening. Without it... well we didn't know what we were going to do." He said looking at his friend. "So how do you feel?"

"Alright considering. I think morphing fixed most of the damage she caused." He replied. He was still sore, and looking forward to relaxing, but all in all he was in pretty good shape.

Billy walked over to him. "Just to be safe, I would like to scan you to make sure you're alright."

Jason nodded and allowed Billy to walk him to one of the medical beds.

Rocky put his arms around Carri. He really thought that Callisto was going to finish her off earlier. But then, he knew if given the chance, Callisto would probably rather do to her ten times worse than what she did to Jason. Or at the very least, finish her off in a fight to the death.

Carri looked up at him. She put her hands around his neck and gave him a kiss. "We'll get her eventually." She knew she probably sent him through the roof with back there. Callisto wanted her dead and she was bound and determined to stop the goddess. It wasn't a good combination for anyone who was worried about her safety.

"Hopefully before she gets us." he said. He looked at his girlfriend. Although he wanted more than anything to just take her home and relax with her, he knew that he had to go back to work. He leaned in and gave her one more long kiss. "I have to get going. Duty calls."

She smiled at him. "I'll see ya later."

"Definitely." he replied as he teleported out.

Kat looked down at her watch. She gasped. "That dance class I was going to teach this afternoon starts in five minutes!" she exclaimed. She was never going to get there in time.

"Well go down there." Carri said. Five minutes was plenty of time to get changed and get moving.

"How am I supposed to get home?" asked Kat. She had yet to leave her Los Angeles dorm, if she teleported down she would not have a way back.

"Don't worry. I'll drive down there and pick you up." she assured her. It wasn't like she had a lot going on that afternoon.

"Thank you." Kat said as she quickly teleported out.

Carri walked over and stood next to Tommy as Billy was examining Jason. Billy motioned for him to sit up.

"Well?" asked Tommy as his friend moved to a sitting position.

"He'll be fine. He just may be a little sore for a while." Billy replied. He was lucky she hadn't done any permanent damage.

Jason smiled. "No kidding." he said rubbing his sore muscles. He stopped at thought for a moment. He had almost forgotten how this day started. Then it hit him. "What time is it?" he asked.

"Almost three." Billy said as he glanced down at one of the consoles.

Jason jumped up and swore. The red ranger looked at him curiously. "What's wrong?"

"Emily.", he replied. He was worried. He didn't know what he was going to say. Plus who said she even wanted to see him. He had to go to her though, he had to try. "I have to get to Angel Grove."

"After the day you've had, you need to relax. I wouldn't recommend driving down there." Billy didn't want to order him not to go, but he was still bruised and sore. He wasn't sure he was going to have the right reflexes should he have to stop suddenly, at least not for what could be a long trip with traffic.

"I have to." he snapped, immediately feeling bad for snapping at his friend. However not going was not an option. He had to try and see Emily. A phone call wasn't going to cut it.

"Why don't you ride down there with me, I have to go get Kat anyway." Carri suggested. She didn't mind him tagging along; she knew how much this weekend meant to him.

"Thank you." he said as he grinned at the girl he considered a sister.

"Come on," she said as she went to link her arm in his, "let's go by the apartment and then we'll go to Angel Grove."

Carri teleported the duo out. Tommy stayed behind to talk to Billy for a few minutes, then he exited as well leaving the Power Chamber calm for the moment.

* * *

Kim rushed up to her friends when she saw them teleport in. "Oh my gosh are you ok?" she asked as she gave Jason a hug.

The green ranger winced. "I'll live." Kim let go when she saw he was sore. Jason noticed Zack and Trini sitting on their couch.

"What happened?" asked Zack. Kim had told them Jason had been captured by Callisto but she didn't know any more than that. They were all starting to worry.

"Callisto took me to one of Rita's dark dimensions to torture me." he answered, trying to make it sound like no big deal.

Trini made a face. The goddess was crazy and she hated to think of Jason in her hands. "How did they get you out?"

"Operation rescue Jason." Carri said with a grin.

Jason laughed, glad that the two of them were alive to joke about it. "I'm just lucky you're crazy or Zordon would be recruiting new rangers right about now."

"Hey anytime I have to opportunity to pull one over on Callisto, I'm in." she replied as she went to collect her things so they could leave.

"Where are you going?" asked Kim as she noticed Carri retrieve her car keys.

"To pick Kat up from the Youth Center, and to take Jason to see Emily." Carri replied as she put a few things in her pocket.

Jason grabbed his wallet off the counter and went to listen to his phone messages. "We need to get down to the beach club."

Carri nodded. Kim looked at her friend. "Are you sure you want to still go down there after everything you went through this morning?"

"I have to." Jason replied. He understood everyone was worried about him, but he had to go to his girlfriend if he had any shot of getting her to stay with him.

"Why don't you just call her?" asked Zack, silently agreeing with Kim.

"And tell her what? I need to go down there. It's going to be hard enough to get her to understand and forgive me in person." Jason told him. He looked at Carri and saw she was ready. "We'll see you guys later."

There was a chorus of "bye's" as the two walked out the door and headed for Angel Grove.

* * *

It was around three forty-five when they finally pulled up at the beach club. Jason thanked Carri for the ride and he leaped out of the car. He saw Emily and her friend Jennifer sitting at one of the tables and he jogged over to his girlfriend. "Emily I am so sorry."

"Where the hell have you been? We have been sitting here for two and a half hours and you couldn't even call me to tell me you were going to be late!" she exclaimed. Late was an understatement. Jason should have been there a long time ago. She wasn't sure what to think.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen. It..." Jason paused. He wasn't sure what to say. What he could come up with to protect his identity and prove to his girlfriend that he loved her and was upset he couldn't be with her earlier. "Will you take a walk with me?"

Emily crossed her arms and glared at him. Slowly she got up out of her seat. "Fine but I hope there is some sort of explanation soon. Don't think for one second that you can just walk me down the beach and all is forgotten."

"I know Emily." he said. Jason started to walk and Emily followed him.

* * *

Carri got out of her car a few minutes after Jason. She walked towards the club in time to see the two of them walk off. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. She walked over to the bar and sat down. "Hey Ernie. So how pissed was she?"

He looked over at her. "I think you know the answer to that question." He felt bad for her. She had been waiting on Jason for hours and for whatever reason he couldn't get there and couldn't call.

She sighed. "I hate it for them." She couldn't imagine being with someone on the outside. The rangers came first, and she doubted many guys would put up with the absences and lies for long.

"She has no idea does she?" Ernie asked. He hoped by now he would have been able to tell her something.

Carri shook her head no. "That's where we were you know. There was an emergency. Jason was the emergency. I just don't know how he can explain that to her without..." she let her voice trail off as a sigh escaped her lips.

Ernie quickly changed the mood. "Do you want something to drink?" There wasn't anything either of them could do about the situation. Jason saved the world and he couldn't tell his girlfriend. That wouldn't change.

She thought for a moment. "Do you have any good fresh fruit?"

"I just got some great looking strawberries in this morning."

"Then give me a strawberry... orange... yeah strawberry-orange smoothie." After the day she'd had, a smoothie would be nice and refreshing.

He smiled as he went to fix it for her. A few minutes later he sat the cold beverage in front of her.

"Thanks Ernie." she said setting a few dollars down on the counter. She sipped it and turned to look toward the ocean. She thought about Rocky. She figured she had nothing better to do, so she might as well take a walk down the beach and see what he was up to. She took her sandals off and rolled up her pants legs, then she went down to the ocean and started walking.

* * *

Emily and Jason walked in silence until they were out of view of the beach club. They stood off in an area where nobody could really see them. Emily took a deep breath, thinking of how she wanted to start the conversation. Then she looked him in his eyes. "Tell me the truth. Where were you today?"

He sighed. He hated to say this, but it was all he could come up with. "There was an emergency." How many times could he say there was an emergency? He'd reached his limit, but he couldn't tell her the truth. Zordon wouldn't allow it.

Emily uncrossed her arms and threw them down by her sides. "There's always an emergency Jason. That has been the story of our relationship." she said. He started to talk but she put a hand up. "What is it really? Oh God - are you sleeping with someone? Who is it? Is it Carri? No Rocky wouldn't let that happen. Is it Kim? It is isn't? I knew it was a bad idea for you to move in with some girl I hardly knew. Is that why you were meeting with me this weekend? To let me down gently?"

The fact that she thought he was cheating on him hurt worse than anything Callisto had done to him that morning. He couldn't get angry at her, he knew how hard things had been. He loved her so much and it hurt not being able to tell her the truth. "Emily I would never cheat on you. I love you. I have been looking forward to spending every moment of this weekend with you."

"Then where were you? And don't say an emergency." she said, not bothering to hide her anger.

Jason opened his mouth but no words came out. He truly didn't know what to say. He didn't want to lie to her, but he couldn't tell her. He felt like he had to choose the rangers or her and it wasn't fair. However he had made an oath a long time ago to the rangers, he couldn't back down on that.

Emily looked at him and the tears started falling down her cheeks. She loved him, but what she wanted more than anything was an explanation, the truth. He owed her that much. If he couldn't give it to her, then she didn't think she could stay.

To his surprise, Jason didn't have to worry long about what to say. He quickly saw his morning come back to haunt him as the goddess appeared and gave him a smile. "So touching." She said as she reached for her sword.

Jason wasted no time pulling Emily behind him. "Leave us alone!"

"And why would you think I would do that? After all, you're still alive. And I'm not done with you yet. Of course, maybe I will start with her. Watching her die would hurt more than watching anyone else, wouldn't it?" She didn't know why she hadn't thought of it sooner. This would kill him and she was going to love every minute of it.

"What's going on?" Emily asked Jason, confusion coming over her as she glanced back and forth between the crazy woman and her boyfriend.

"This." Callisto said picking Jason up by the throat and looking at Emily. She was going to attack his girlfriend, but she noticed that the girl's attention had shifted for the moment to something else. Callisto followed her gaze down to the shoreline. She smiled as she turned towards her next victim.

"Carri!" Emily hollered in an effort to warn her friend, but it was too late.

Carri looked up just in time to see Callisto use her powers to lift her off the ground and fling her up the beach. Carri skidded across the sand, her shoes and her drink flying out of her hands. She looked over and saw Callisto's feet in front of her.

Callisto put her sword back in its place and picked her prey up by the throat, and took in the two helpless rangers. The goddess looked Carri in the eyes. "Well this is my lucky day. Two for one."

Without thinking, Emily ran at Callisto and tried to knock her down. Callisto took two steps backwards and quickly threw Jason and Carri down and picked up Emily. The goddess smiled. "You were going to die first anyway." She reached for her sword, preparing to make this girl's death quick.

Carri leaped up and grabbed Callisto's arm, pulling her sword back before she could use it. Jason came up and kicked her. She let Emily go. She turned around and kicked Carri back, then focused on Jason and Emily. "You guys aren't playing very nice." she said, sounding like a child who was about to tell on a friend.

"Neither do you." Jason growled as he jumped up and attacked her.

Emily stood there frozen with fear. She wanted to help Jason but she didn't know what to do. She watched Jason fight with the strong woman in front of them until she flung Jason back and he hit her, both of them hitting the ground hard.

Jason lay there clutching his sides. His last encounter with Callisto had weakened him, and he wasn't sure he was up for another one yet, especially without being morphed.

"Are you ok?" Emily asked him, all the anger from earlier gone as concern took over. She was scared; she didn't want to die here.

He nodded his head yes, although he wasn't sure at the moment. Suddenly Carri jumped in front of Callisto and kneed her in the stomach. She grabbed her wrist and tried to force her to let go of her sword. Unfortunately, with Callisto being a goddess and Carri yielding none of her ranger powers, she had no chance. Callisto returned the knee. Carri stumbled back a few feet.

Callisto smiled at her. "Now let's see how you like being sliced in half."

Carri's eyes widened as Callisto took a swing at her midsection. She tried to jump back, but couldn't completely avoid the attack. She cringed as she felt Callisto's blade run across her stomach. She heard Callisto laugh as she threw her to the ground beside Jason and Emily. Carri put a hand on her stomach. Blood was oozing through her fingers. Jason put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you ok?"

She glared at him. Then she looked over to Emily, and back to Jason one more time. "I am not going to die out here." she hissed looking at him. Screw not morphing, not revealing herself as a ranger. She didn't want to give up her Zeonizers, but if Zordon was going to punish her, was going to take them away, so be it. Help obviously wasn't on its way and she had to do something. She could see the look in Jason's eye. He wasn't sure if this was a good idea. "I don't care if you are with me or not." Carri added as struggled to get to her feet.

Callisto laughed at her. "You can hardly move. What are you going to do now, bleed on me?"

"I've got a better idea." Carri snapped at her as a smile spread across her face.

Carri started to speak but Jason didn't even let her get the words out as he stood up. He had thought about it, and she was right. They were all going to die here if they didn't do something. "It's morphin time!"

"Zeo ranger two, yellow!"

"Zeo ranger four, green!"

Emily looked on in awe as the green and yellow Zeo Rangers stood in front of her. "I'm sorry. Now you need to hide somewhere." he whispered to his girlfriend. As he turned back, he saw Carri attack Callisto with her Zeo weapon as she flipped over her head. Jason called for his Zeo weapon and did the same.

Callisto turned around to face the rangers, leaving Emily alone for the time being. "I didn't think you would do it. I thought you were sworn to secrecy." She was somewhat disappointed. So much for the rules she was told the rangers followed.

"What good is a dead ranger to Zordon?" Carri asked as she pulled out her blaster and fired. Callisto got irritated, and Jason took advantage of that and joined in.

Jason looked at Carri. "I have an idea." he said. She nodded and he moved into position. "We need the Zeo Cannon now!"

The Zeo Cannon appeared in the two rangers hands. They fired at Callisto with a blast more powerful than the blasters had been. She fell to the ground. She sat up and looked at the two rangers. She hissed at them, and then took off.

Jason and Carri powered down. Jason looked at his friend. The front of her shirt was torn and covered in blood. "Are you ok?"

She reached down and touched her shirt. The blood had dried when they morphed. She lifted it up and exposed her stomach. The wound was gone. She smiled. "One of the benefits of being a ranger." Serious injuries sometimes needed more help but a cut like that fortunately healed on its own.

"Jason!", Emily yelled running down the beach at him. She threw her arms around him.

"Emily I am so sorry I couldn't tell you before. We've been sworn to keep our identities a secret. It hurt not being able to tell you." he said as he gave her a hug. The two stood there in silence for a second.

As Emily came down the beach, Carri went and retrieved her shoes. She came back down and looked at the two, who were still embraced. "Guys I think I'm going to continue my walk down the beach."

Emily turned to look at her friend. "Are you alright?"

Carri nodded as Jason looked at her. "What are you crazy? You can't go out like that."

She looked down at her shirt and shrugged. "It's not like I keep a spare around just in case Callisto shows up to try and slice and dice me."

"How are you going to explain that to people? What are they going to think?" asked Jason. The public was going to think she was attacked and freak out. Plus it would most certainly make the news.

"I don't know. I'll think of something."

Jason took his shirt off and handed it to her. "Put this on."

"Don't worry about it." she replied, gesturing for him to keep it.

"Don't be stupid." It wasn't a request. He wasn't going to let her walk off if she didn't cover her shirt up somehow.

She looked him in the eyes. She knew he was right. She just hated taking the shirt off his back. She sighed as she took it and put in on over her own. "I'm gone. Just call me and let me know what you're doing. I have to pick Kat up in a little over an hour."

He nodded. "Do you think she'll come back?" he asked, referencing the goddess.

"Not any time soon. Once we embarrass her she's been taking off. But if she does, don't hesitate to call for me. I liked that shirt." she said with a smile.

Jason smiled back. "I'll talk to you later."

"Bye guys." she said as she waved and took off.

"Bye." Emily and Jason replied. Emily waited until she had gone down the beach. She turned to her boyfriend. "Now can you tell me where you were?"

Jason sighed. His girlfriend wasn't going to like hearing this, but he had to tell her. "Callisto kidnapped me this morning. She had taken me to another dimension to torture me. She would have killed me if it wasn't for the others."

"Jason... do you... I mean does this happen often?" Emily asked. The thought that he went through that was horrible.

"With Callisto? No. She was just upset because of what I did to her when we went back in time." he explained, the thought that the explanation was a little weird not occurring to him until afterwards.

A look of surprise crossed Emily's face. "What?"

"It's a long story. Callisto is a goddess. She was once human, and because of ours... well mainly because of Carri's ancestor she became evil and eventually a goddess." He wasn't even sure where to begin with the Callisto story. It was complicated.

"So how… why did you go back in time to meet her?"

"Some of us were sent back in time by Zordon, he's our leader, to meet our ancestors in order to stop the dreams we were having. Most of the others met their ancestors when they were accidentally teleported back in time. We have these powers, called Ninjetti powers that connect us to our ancestors." He was all over the board with his explanation. He didn't know if it was helping or hurting.

"You keep talking about we. Who is we?" The thought occurred to her that he couldn't tell her, but she had to ask.

Jason hesitated. After thinking it over, he decided to go ahead and tell her. She wasn't stupid; she would probably figure it out anyway. "Well as you know, Carri and I are Zeo rangers. Along with Rocky, Tommy and Kat."

"What about Kim and Billy?" Those two seemed to be a huge part of their little group. It made sense for them to be involved somehow.

"They, along with the rest of us except for Kat, have permanent Ninjetti powers. They are limited in what they can do power wise, but have proven to come in handy. They both used to be rangers."

"And Adam?" She asked, thinking of others who have been around.

"He was a ranger too. He also has Ninjetti powers." He was right, she was picking them out one by one.

Emily looked down at the sand as she tried to process it all. "So this Callisto... if she doesn't attack you all the time... then why do you keep disappearing?" There were monster attacks all the time. If it wasn't Callisto, someone had to be out there coming after them.

"Callisto has only attacked a few times in the last year. She's not really our biggest concern. Lord Zedd and Rita, they're the ones that cause all the monster attacks you hear about in Angel Grove. They're what keep the rangers in business."

"It makes sense... everything that's happened since we've been together... but I have so many questions."

Jason lifted her head up and looked in her eyes. "I promise I will try my best to answer them."

She sighed and nodded as she tried to figure out the next thing she wanted to say.

* * *

Carri worked her way down to the public beaches, where everybody came to go swimming. It wasn't too busy for a Saturday, but then again conditions weren't quite ideal yet for beach goers.

She walked through the sand for a while, trying to figure out what was going on. She had passed some towers, but had yet to see her boyfriend. For a while she got lost in her thoughts. That's when he came and grabbed her shoulder.

"Hey." she said smiling as she turned to him.

He had a confused look on his face. "Is that Jason's shirt?" She nodded and he started to get angry. He knew they were close but there was no good reason for her to wear his clothes. "What the hell are you doing wearing Jason's shirt?"

Carri didn't say anything. She turned to make sure nobody was paying much attention as she lifted up his shirt enough for Rocky to see hers.

Rocky's expression quickly shifted from anger to worry as he lifted up her shirt and put a hand on her stomach. "What happened?"

"It was Callisto... I guess she felt like she owed me from before." Carri explained as though it was no big deal.

"So what, she just shows up and tries to half you?" he asked, his eyes filled with worry.

"She came for Jason. I was walking along the beach, coming to see you. I didn't even see her there. She pulled me over, and attacked me, Jason and Emily."

"Is Emily ok?" Rocky asked. Carri and Jason were rangers, they were experienced. He worried about her, but she'd fight. Emily was a civilian.

She shook her head yes. "We morphed and took care of Callisto. Emily knows now but it was our only option."

He wrapped his arms around her. "Thank god you're ok." Carri returned the hug. Rocky looked down at her. "I don't know why we weren't contacted." He was somewhat upset that Zordon didn't let them know Callisto was back. They needed everyone against her.

"Me neither." she said. She expected the others to be there when Callisto was attacking. She thought maybe Rita and Zedd attacked at the same time, but it bothered her to find out they didn't.

Rocky put his arm around her as he led her down the beach, trying to keep an eye on his water. "So how long are you down here for?"

"Not long. I came to pick Kat up from the Youth Center. And to bring Jason to see Emily." Kat would be ready to get picked up soon.

"Kat had a class?" She nodded and he pulled her in closer. "I have an idea. How about I come by tonight with pizzas and movies, and we make a night out of it."

She smiled. "Sounds like a plan." It had been a hell of a day, lounging around with pizza and movies sounded like as good of a plan as any.

He smiled back as he walked with her a little while longer until she had to leave.

* * *

Carri met Jason back at her car a while later. He had called her and said he'd meet her and ride to the Youth Center with her. After this afternoon, she wasn't surprised he wasn't staying. It had been a crazy day for everyone. She sighed as she unlocked the doors and they both got in.

Jason turned toward her as he buckled his seatbelt. "Did you see Rocky?"

"Yeah. He was worried. And angry. But mostly worried." she told him. "He's coming by tonight. We're going to watch movies." Jason smiled at her, and then she continued to talk. "I spoke to Billy. He doesn't know why but Callisto didn't show up on the scanners. They didn't know what was going on until we had already pissed her off and she'd left."

"That's odd." Jason said as the car started moving. He made eye contact with her briefly and she nodded. It bothered him that the goddess could just slip in and out like that. That was twice in one day. Once when she kidnapped him and once this afternoon.

"What about Emily? How is she?" asked Carri. She didn't want to dwell on what that meant. Both of them knew it couldn't lead to anything good.

"A little shaken up." he replied with a sigh. He couldn't blame her. He hated that he had put her through that.

"What about the rangers thing?" She was wondering if the other woman would accept it, or if they would have to figure out how to wipe her memory.

Jason simply shrugged. "She's... I think it's just a lot for her to take in right now. I wanted to stay with her. But she needs time to think. And she wants me to rest." He thought she'd accept it but she wasn't sure.

Carri glanced over and saw the bruises on his bare chest. "I can see why she would be worried."

"They'll be gone in a day or so." He pointed out. He agreed though, they looked horrible.

"Do you think the two of you are going to be alright?" She was worried Emily would leave him over this. She couldn't blame her for not wanting to date a ranger.

"I hope so. I told her that I would make up for today tomorrow. That we would start bright and early."

"And?" It didn't matter what he told her, it mattered if she accepted or not.

"She said ok." It was a great relief to Jason to hear her agree to let him come take her out tomorrow. He had to show her how much she meant to him. "I'm going to make sure she doesn't regret it. I am going to take her out and treat her like royalty."

She smiled. "She'll like that."

"I just hope she can accept that being a power ranger is a part of who I am." If she couldn't, well he hated to say it but he would have to leave her. He couldn't choose her over protecting the planet.

"If she loves you as much as you love her she will." Carri thought for a moment. If it was her boyfriend who was a power ranger, she'd probably find it awesome. She'd want to help however she could. Then again, she wasn't exactly like most women. Most women would have trouble accepting it.

Jason smiled as he leaned back in the seat, closing his eyes as Carri pulled up to the Youth Center. It didn't take long to pick up Kat, and then the three of them were on their way back to Los Angeles.

* * *

Kim, Zack and Trini came back into the apartment. The three of them had gone out that afternoon after they were sure the others were ok.

"I had fun. I'm glad we came back for a visit." Zack said. It was really nice to get to hang out with one of his oldest friends.

Trini nodded. "Me too." She missed Kim. They were really close before she left.

"Well we are glad you guys came back. It's been too long since we've gotten to hang out." Kim said. It had been three years since she'd seen either of them on a social basis.

"You can say that again." Zack agreed. It was the one drawback of his job.

Billy teleported home from his work at the Power Chamber. "Hey guys." he greeted everyone. He was glad to see Zack and Trini there. He had wanted to spend time with them earlier; however the recent developments with Callisto required his attention. He still didn't have any definitive answers, and Zordon had sent him home saying there wasn't much more they could do.

He got three hello's in reply. "I heard you had a busy day." Zack said.

Billy gave a nod in response. "Yes well, anytime Callisto gets involved things tend to deteriorate quickly."

"What happened with Callisto?" Trini questioned. She had gotten the gist of it; however she was curious as to what the specifics were. She remembered the goddess; she knew it couldn't have been easy.

Billy smiled nervously at her. He wanted to tell her everything; however it was a conversation he'd like to have elsewhere. "I was thinking perhaps you and I can go out to dinner. I could explain everything to you and we can catch up on old times."

Kim raised an eyebrow and looked at Zack. Both teens smiled. Whether or not this was Billy's way of asking her on an official date they weren't sure but it was a start.

"Sure. It sounds like fun." Trini said as she smiled at Billy. She missed the blue Ninjetti and she was glad he was asking her to spend time with him.

Billy smiled as he started to walk off. "Give me a minute and then we can go."

Trini nodded. She turned back to her friends, who were looking at her. "What?" she asked.

Kim grinned. "Nothing."

"We're friends. And I miss hanging out with Billy." Trini suddenly felt the need to defend her dinner.

"Nobody here said that you couldn't hang out with Billy." Zack told her, the same grin on his face.

Trini smiled. "Fine then." The tone in her voice indicated that she wasn't going to talk about it further.

Billy came back into the living room. "Ready?" he asked.

"Let's go." she replied. She stood to join him and the two of them left the apartment.

"So was that..." Zack smiled as he looked at Kim, hinting at the question that was lingering between the two.

"Sure looked that way to me." Kim replied. Although dating wasn't Billy's specialty and she wasn't sure if he was going to turn it into a date or not.

"I don't know... although they have been writing a lot lately." Zack thought about it out loud. It wouldn't surprise him at all.

"It would be cute." Kim said. They all knew that Trini was the only one who really got Billy and the two of them really enjoyed each other's company. She always thought it was just a matter of time.

A few moments later, Carri and Jason walked through the door. Kim and Zack glared at them.

They were both surprised to run into the former blue and yellow rangers as they were leaving for dinner. Jason asked the question he and Carri had been discussing as soon as they shut the door. "Are Billy and Trini going out?"

"Maybe. But I think the bigger question is why are you half naked and she's wearing your shirt?" Kim asked looking from one of her friends to the other. As far as she knew, they were no more inclined to have that kind of relationship than she and Jason were.

In response, Carri took off his shirt and tossed it to him, revealing what she was wearing underneath.

"What happened to you?" asked Zack, shocked by the dried blood on her shirt.

"Callisto." she replied simply. Carri started to take off her shirt as she disappeared down the hallway. She wanted to chunk it and put on something that didn't give her the urge to fly around the galaxy until she found the goddess and kicked her ass.

"Callisto attacked me and Emily... we weren't going to morph, but you can see what she did to Carri. We were afraid she was going to kill us. We had to do it." Jason said putting his shirt back on.

"So Emily knows now?" Kim asked. Jason nodded in response. She was going to ask another question about Emily when Carri walked back in with a clean shirt on. "I assume you're ok?"

"For the most part. That shirt cost me forty dollars though so..." Carri made a face as her voice trailed off. She hated wasting a perfectly good shirt.

Kim laughed. "Don't worry we'll go out and find a replacement."

She smiled. "I didn't think I would have to coax you into that one." They'd use any excuse to go shopping.

The front door creaked open one more time. All four turned to the entrance way to see Tommy standing there. "Hey guys. I came by to see if everyone wanted to go out." He greeted.

"Billy and Trini already left." Zack replied. "But I'm game."

"Oh?", Tommy asked as Kim giggled. Her reaction had her curious about his two friends, but he let it be for the moment. "Well what about the rest of you?"

"Sounds like a plan bro. Just give me a minute. Rough afternoon." Jason said as he walked off.

"I'm in." Kim chimed in.

Tommy turned to the last one. "Well?"

"Not tonight." she said. "Rocky's coming by in a bit and he and I are going to plop down on the couch and relax."

"That sounds like a good a plan as any." Tommy told her. After the day they had, that was probably where he was going to end up.

She smiled. "But definitely, we will all have to go out again before you guys leave." She was somewhat bummed she'd miss out on hanging out with Zack and Trini, but it was nice to have a quiet evening with her boyfriend.

"We'll be here for a few weeks so there should be some more opportunities." Zack assured her.

"Good then." Carri said as she collapsed on the couch beside Zack.

Jason came back out a few minutes later. "Is everybody ready?"

"Let's do it." Kim said hopping up out of her seat.

"We'll see you later." Zack told Carri as he stood.

"Bye guys." she replied waving to her friends.

They waved back and said goodbye as they collected their things and walked out the door. Carri spread out across the couch and turned the TV on, passing time until Rocky arrived. She smiled as she lay there. After the awful day they had experienced, finally the ranger team was going to get some well needed R & R.

* * *

Astronema sat in the Dark Fortress waiting for word from her lackeys. She sent them out to finally finish off that red ranger. She had the perfect plan too. Nothing could go wrong. She was almost to the point where she could wait no longer. She crossed her arms and started tapping her feet.

"You too?" Callisto asked as she came in and saw her acquaintance sitting there.

"I'm waiting for word on that ranger." Astronema said her irritation obvious. "There is no way that my plan could have failed."

A noise of frustration slipped through Callisto's lips. "You know as well as I do that no plan is perfect anymore."

Astronema looked at her. "You've been down with that green ranger all day. Don't tell me you didn't get to torture him." She'd be disappointed if he got off without a scratch.

She made a face. "I tortured him all morning until those rangers came in to rescue him. He was stronger than I expected. When I went back for him later... well we'll just say he angered me and I had to go blow off some steam before I came back."

The other woman smiled. "How many times to I have to tell you not to underestimate those rangers of yours. Trust me; if anybody knows what they are capable of, it's me." She had been trying to destroy rangers for a while and they kept slipping through her fingers. She had destroyed some, but the red ranger kept eluding her.

"True. I have some ideas though. Maybe you can help me with them." The goddess said as she glanced at Astronema. She could take care of all their ranger problems.

She laughed. When Callisto had an idea, it was usually delightfully evil. "I'd like that. As soon as the red ranger is out of commission, I'd be glad to help."

Ecliptor came in to face Astronema. "My queen..."

She stood up and walked over to him. "You had better be bringing good news."

He looked at her, as if unsure what to say. "We don't have the red ranger..."

"I should have guessed." She growled. "You had better have a good explanation."

"It's the silver ranger. He's not dead. He is alive and well. He assisted the red ranger and they both escaped before we could destroy either of them." Ecliptor explained. It wasn't good news, although as far as he could tell it was only the silver ranger that was alive which is better than it could have been.

"What!" Astronema exclaimed. She thought the entire pathetic team of rangers was dead. The red ranger was still standing, she knew he survived. The rest of them though… she should have checked herself. Just because they went down doesn't mean one didn't get back up. She looked over at Callisto. "I have something to keep you busy for a while."

A smile curled up on the goddess's lips. She had an idea of what Astronema had in mind. "What's that?"

"I want you to help me destroy the silver and red rangers. You can show them how a real warrior does it." She had another mission to attend to or she'd do it herself. However she couldn't let Dark Specter down.

"That will certainly make up for the day I had." Callisto said with a laugh. Then she went to work on how to destroy the rest of the Astro team.

* * *

Zedd and Rita stood in their throne room. They hadn't heard from Callisto since the rangers hit her with the Zeo Cannon. They had been trying to figure out if she had left or not.

"Well? Anything?" asked Rita, her patience wearing thing.

"She's not in any of your dark dimensions. And she's not anywhere close to Earth." Goldar informed them. He searched everywhere for signs of the goddess.

"She must have gotten irritated after those power punks hit her with their cannon." Zedd pointed out. She had a history of getting pissed and ditching them.

Rita turned to look towards her husband. "Well Zeddie what are we going to do?"

"Let them have their moment for now. We will attack them with monsters. And soon, my newest idea will be ready for them, and they won't be able to survive." Zedd laughed as he thought about what the future would hold.


	21. Old Loves

**Disclaimer:** The Power Rangers belong to Saban, everybody else belongs to me.  
**Author's Notes:** Sorry it has been so long since the last update. Life is crazy for me. Thank you guys for sticking with me. I am starting to get into a schedule, and hopefully updates will come more frequently.

Ranger Scrolls  
"Old Loves"

Jason walked into his living room in a t-shirt and swim trunks. He went to gather his friend, who was sitting at the kitchen table with books spread out everywhere. "Are you ready to go?" he asked.

Kim was startled for a moment, but then she gathered herself together and looked up at him. "Do I look ready?"

He made a face. It was obvious she didn't look ready, he was just out here to push her along. "Well hurry up, we can't keep Carri waiting all day."

"She'll just lay out there and fry. She won't even notice," Kim said with a smile. It was a half-truth. She would notice when she didn't have anybody to gossip with besides Jason, who would simply groan and pretend to ignore her. "Besides, just because this is the first day of spring break, doesn't mean that I don't have anything better to do. We went out yesterday and Saturday, and I didn't even get to touch my paper. And it's due next Monday."

"Everybody needs a little sun to make them feel better. Besides, you promised Carri you'd go," Jason pointed out. Honestly he doubted Carri would care, still he was going to give Kim a hard time.

"I think I'm going to work on this. Later this week I'll hit the beach with you guys," Kim assured him. When Jason didn't look convinced she continued. "If Carri protests please remind her that Friday is the big day and if she wants me to go out she has to let me get finished."

Jason chuckled. She had a point. "I'll tell her. Good luck with that."

"Thank you," she said, relieved that he wasn't going to give her any more of a hard time and let her work.

Jason grabbed his towel and keys and took off. Kim resumed going through her books. She didn't think the paper was going to be too hard. She had gathered a lot of information. She just wasn't sure yet where to start.

Kim's' silence was interrupted when someone else entered the apartment. She looked up at her visitor and smiled. "Hey."

"Hey Kim," Tommy greeted as he noticed the pile of books in front of her. "Working hard?"

"For now," she said. She'd take a break for a minute for Tommy. For a second she thought that sounded bad, that she'd ignore her best friend but visit with someone else. However this was Tommy, and Carri would probably kick her for ignoring him. She'd been pestering her for weeks now about when they were going to go out again.

Tommy came in and sat down beside her. "Anything I can help with?"

"Nope. I've pretty much got it handled. But thank you." Kim smiled at him and watched as he reciprocated. It was nice to exchange smiles with him, it reminded her of high school.

"So... are you going to be doing this all day?" Tommy wasn't sure where to start in regards to getting his point across. He figured this was as good as a way to go about it as any.

"I sure hope not. It would drive me crazy. A girl's got to have a break sometime," she said smiling at him. "But it is going to be my main focus so if you are trying to get me to go to the beach with everyone count me out."

"Actually I can't go to the beach today. I had something I had to do. I just wanted to stop by here first."

Kim's eyebrow rose as she locked eyes with him. "Why?"

"To see you," he admitted. He wasn't sure why it made him nervous to say it out loud but it did.

The pink Ninjetti felt a blush creep into her cheeks. "Why?"

"To see... to see if you would like to have dinner with me tonight," he said, spitting it out.

Kim grinned, thrilled to hear that from him. "Tommy Oliver... are you asking me out on a date?"

He smiled sheepishly. "Yeah... I guess I am." He almost hit himself for saying guess. He definitely was asking, he'd been thinking about asking for a long time now.

"I was wondering if you would ever do it," she teased.

Tommy's face scrunched up as he wondered if that was good or bad. "Can I take that as a yes?"

She laughed. "Of course." She watched him as he let out a sigh of relief. "What you didn't think I'd go?"

"No, I did. It was just... well you know me it's hard for me to get things like that out." he said smiling. This was Kim, there was history there, asking her out for a second time wasn't easy. "I'm glad you were here alone."

"Why do you say that?" asked Kim, although she had a good feeling she knew the answer.

"I wanted to go out on a date first before we said anything to the others," he explained.

She smiled as he confirmed what she had been thinking. "In other words, you're glad Jason and Carri weren't here."

Tommy laughed. "Yeah pretty much. The two of them have been egging us on forever." Every time they sparred Jason asked about Kim. He had a feeling it was part legitimate question, and part a distraction technique. It didn't matter though, it was driving him crazy.

"They were right weren't they?" she asked with a grin.

"Yeah... yeah they were," he said with a smile. "Well... I will let you get back to your paper. I have to get going anyway."

"Ok. So then I will see you tonight?" Kim asked, her voice reflecting an excitement she hadn't felt in a long time.

"Yeah. See you then," Tommy assured her as he left.

Kim smiled as she turned back to her books. She was excited to finally be getting another chance to date Tommy. She couldn't wait until that night. She looked down at what she was doing. Now if only she could concentrate.

* * *

Billy and Trini found themselves in Angel Grove taking a walk on a quieter beach. They were both eager to avoid the crowds that had become Los Angeles, and with public schools still in session and the community college not having spring break until the following week, Angel Grove was perfect.

"I can't believe that you guys are leaving at the end of the week," Billy said, the lines of his face giving away how upset that made him.

"I know. Time flew by so quickly," Trini replied. She didn't want to go now but she knew she had to. Besides, she had something to look forward to. "I can't wait to get started with work but I am going to miss you guys."

Billy nodded as he thought about her leaving. "I'll have to make this week especially special for you."

Trini looked at him. "You've made my entire time special," she assured him, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Billy felt her kiss him. He gazed over at her. Without thinking, he leaned in and gave her a real kiss. When it ended, Billy stood up straight and blushed.

"Was that...," Trini smiled as her voice trailed off.

"I don't know if I should have..."

"You mean this whole time and you haven't thought about kissing me once?" Trini asked, having a good feeling he had thought about it more than once.

"Well... yes... I mean... of course I have," Billy stammered.

Trini's eyes lit up. It was cute the way he was trying to cover for himself. "Then what's the problem?"

"I've come to feel strongly about you Trini, and I don't know if you feel the same, and you're leaving and it's not feasible and"

"Shh," Trini said placing a finger to his lips. "You worry too much." Trini took his hand in hers and started to walk. "If we make it work, that's fabulous. If not, well at least we can say that we tried."

Billy smiled. She was right, he shouldn't worry about it. That was sometimes hard for him. He figured at the moment though, nothing else mattered. He continued to hold Trini's hand and he walked her down the beach.

* * *

The beaches of LA were packed for spring break. Both USC and UCLA had let out the same week, which meant that there were college kids everywhere. Some were playing volleyball, some were lying out. Some had even been brave enough to venture into the ocean, where the water temperatures were well below their peak.

One girl was enjoying her time in the sun more than others. She was lying on her towel face down. She was so zoned out she didn't even notice the volleyball coming in her direction. She felt it hit her back and roll off to the side. "What the...," Carri questioned as she turned around at sat up. She picked up the volleyball and scanned for who it belonged to.

She didn't have to wait long before someone came to claim it. "Well I'll be damned," David Myers said as he walked over to Carri. "What are you doing here?"

Carri rolled her eyes and resisted the urge to simply flip him the bird and lay back down. "I live here. The question is what are you doing here?"

"It's spring break. And you can't stay cooped up in New York for spring break," David pointed out. He loved New York but he was looking forward to heading out to the west coast for a while. Especially since he knew people, or at least one person, out here.

She got not wanting to be in New York. Although she didn't want to be there spring, summer, winter or fall. Still trying to pretend she didn't loathe him, she flashed him a fake smile as she held up the volleyball. "So this belongs to you?"

"Yeah," he replied as he took it. He extended a hand to her. "Why don't you come play with us?"

"I don't know I'm"

David cut her off. "Some of your old friends are over there and they are dying to see you."

She sighed. She was almost positive her parents, well her mother, told him how to find her. God forbid she blow him off and he goes back to tell them what a bitch she's become. She hated trying to appease her mother's society when she was there, she thought she didn't have to do it in California. Yet here was her ex-boyfriend, the boy her mother loved, the boy whose own mother was still a part of the same social circle as her mother. "Sure why not," she finally replied with a sigh. She was going to ignore his outstretched hand but he leaned down and helped her up anyway.

She picked up her things and walked over to the net with him. She had to bite her tongue to keep from saying anything rude when she saw who they were playing with. Not that she hated them, but they weren't exactly the type of friends she wanted to have.

"Oh my, gosh, Carri, I can't believe it," Cindy King said as she ran over and gave an old friend a hug.

"Yeah it's so cool to see you," Amanda Martin chimed in as she came up for a hug as well.

Carri returned the hugs. "It's good to see you too," she said although she wasn't sure how much she meant it. She was thrilled to leave New York behind, and there were reasons why she hadn't written any of these people.

"You remember Cory?" asked Cindy as she gestured to the guy behind her.

Carri smiled and waved at Cory McIntyre, Cindy's on again off again boyfriend for as long as she could remember. Amanda grabbed Carri's hand and walked her over to the last male on the court. "This is my boyfriend, Paul Jacobs."

"Nice to meet you," Paul said extending his hand. He had heard a lot about Carri from the rest of the group.

"Nice to meet you too," Carri replied. She turned to David. "Did you bring a girlfriend?" She hoped the answer was yes, at least then she knew he wasn't going to try and woo her.

"Kinda hard to bring one if there's not one," he told her, making an upset face at first but ending with a smile.

"Right," she said, and suddenly she had a bad feeling about where this meeting was going.

"So maybe we could start fresh. New game. How about... me, Carri and Cindy against Paul, Amanda and Cory," David suggested. No way was he going to let Carri onto the other team, not when she could stand next to him and watch him play.

Carri shrugged. "Whatever." At least she wasn't going to have to be on the other side of the net. Then she'd actually have to look at him the whole time.

Cindy smiled, excited to finally see her high school group back together. "This is going to be so much fun."

David grinned. He was happy that he got to be the dominate player on the team. The only reason to play with two females is so that you can impress them. David took the volleyball back. "We'll serve," he said, quickly hitting the ball as the game started.

The ball went flying back and forth over the net. The teens were trying to make small talk as it did. "So tell me," David started as he hit the ball, "what's so special about LA?"

Carri ran up to the net to smack the volleyball. "I love it here. The sand and sun of course, then there's the city, my friends."

"You should come back to New York. We'd all love to have you at NYU," David told her. He'd love her at NYU. They could try again.

"I'm quite happy at USC," she replied, the mere thought of being stuck at NYU with David making her want to throw up in her mouth a little bit.

"Yeah but don't you miss us?" asked Cindy. There was no way Carri didn't miss hanging out with them. They were best friends.

"Of course." She missed them about as much as she missed King Mondo.

"It would be great to have you back. It would be just like old times," Amanda said, her mind racing with what the three girls could do together.

Carri ran in front of David and slammed the ball so hard it rolled quite a ways out of bounds. She sighed. This was getting irritating. It would be a safe assumption to say that her mother put him up to this... but then again he may be trying to coax her back on his own. She looked as the ball rolled off and Cory jogged after it. As she watched Cory, she saw another figure appear from behind him. She had never been so happy to see anyone in her entire life. "Jason!" she yelled as she ran over and threw her arms around him in a hug.

Jason looked baffled. As close as they were, as much as they thought of each other like siblings, she'd never run and jumped into a hug like that with him. Not even with her boyfriend for that matter. "Ok since you only haven't seen me since this morning."

"Please save me," she whispered in his ear. She was hoping maybe she'd get lucky, and the excitement she showed over seeing Jason would be enough to get them to leave her alone.

Cory picked up the ball and then extended his hand to the stranger. "Cory McIntyre."

"Jason Scott," he said shaking his hand. He looked over at Carri and raised an eyebrow. Not that she was anti-social, but she wouldn't just jump in and play with a group of strangers, especially when she knew some of the others were coming by.

"You her boyfriend?" Cory asked, trying to size up the man standing in front of him.

"Nope. Friend. Roommate. But absolutely not boyfriend." Although he supposed if she was in trouble and needed him to play the boyfriend he would.

She made a face. "You say that like it would be some god awful thing to have me as your girlfriend."

Jason laughed. He loved her and Kim but both of his girls drove him crazy sometimes. He wasn't sure how Rocky managed. "Maybe it wouldn't be. But then again..."

Carri slapped him in the stomach and laughed. "Come on, you're playing." She dragged him over to her side of the net, barely giving him time to throw his towel and shirt down next to her stuff.

"Aren't you going to introduce us to your friend?" asked David, irritated to see another male on his side of the court.

"Everyone this is Jason Scott. Jason meet Amanda Martin and Paul Jacobs. You met Cory. And this is Cindy King and David Myers."

"Nice to meet you," Jason said as he shot Carri a look. He had a bad feeling about this. "So... how do you guys know each other?"

"We went to high school together in New York," Carri explained quickly. She would have to tell Jason everything but she wasn't getting into it now. "Well except for Paul. I just met him."

"So that would be..."

Carri cut Jason off before he could say it. "Where's Kim?"

"She said to tell you that if you wanted her to go out on Friday, you would let her work on her paper today," Jason told her, ignoring the other people on the court for the moment. "So are we it?"

"Tommy can't come, Kat and Chris might come, Billy and Trini are together, Zack's with his family, and Rocky is working." She was hoping to get a big group out but there would be other days for that.

David came up and put a hand on Carri's lower back. "So what are we waiting for, let's play."

Jason shot her a look. She made a face. This probably was going to be a really bad idea but still they both took positions on the court, then the ball came flying toward them.

"So Carri, about that New York idea...," David let his voice trail off. She rolled her eyes.

"You could cheerlead with us," Cindy said excitedly. College cheerleading was so much fun and she wanted to have her two best friends there.

"It would be just like high school!" exclaimed Amanda. "Senior year was the best. I wish you were there. How was your squad?"

"I wasn't a cheerleader my senior year," Carri told them. She would have shot herself. She did have a friend on the cheerleading squad, but other than Ashley she steered far away from that madness.

"You didn't make the team?" asked Cindy in disbelief. She had been co-captain of their squad, there was no way she got rejected by the squad in California.

"Something like that," she replied. Carri didn't want to get into why she didn't try out for cheerleading when she came back home. Somehow she didn't think "cheerleading was horrible" would be a good response here.

"You were on the cheerleading squad?" Jason asked looking at her in disbelief. She had never shared that fact with him. Or anyone that he knew of. Something like that would have most certainly popped up in conversation before.

"Yeah, yeah. But that's my little secret," she said hitting a ball over the net. She never told them she was a cheerleader in New York. She was damn good at it but she hated it. It was what her mother forced her to do, and it was one of the reasons she ran away from the big apple screaming.

"So Carri, we met this girl from here, she said she knew you," Cory said, changing the topic of conversation.

"Who?" asked Carri, raising an eyebrow.

"Tanya... something...," Cory tried to remember the name,

"Oh!" Carri felt like hitting herself for not realizing it faster. "Tanya Sloan. Yeah I met her just before she came up there."

"She was nice. It seemed like senior year was kind of hard for her though. She kept talking about this guy she was seeing back in California," Cory told her. He couldn't remember the guy's name, but he knew she missed him.

"Adam," Carri supplied the name for him.

"You knew her boyfriend?" asked Amanda. Tanya talked about him all the time but nobody else had ever met him.

"Yeah. He moved up there last summer. He was friends with me and Jase," she replied. She missed having Adam around. She knew the others did too, especially Rocky. Adam was his best friend, and although he hung out with Jason and Tommy it wasn't the same.

"Jase?" Cindy asked. She looked over at Jason. "Oh, yeah, him."

Jason glared at his friend. He had a million questions he wanted to ask. It would be rude to ask them now, but then again he wasn't sure the other girls would get it.

Carri was busy trying to figure out how she was going to make it through the rest of the day as she dived for a ball and missed. She rolled over in the sand and laid there for a minute. Jason laughed at her. David shot him a look. "Are you ok?" he asked walking over to her. "You don't need to be diving for balls you know. Let me and your friend take care of those."

She rolled her eyes. She was diving for line drives a year ago, even though her coach hated when she didn't let some of those go back to the infield. She was fairly certain she could handle a volleyball. "I'm fine. I'm enjoying the sand on my back at the moment."

"Let me help you up," he said pulling her up against her will. Then he started to brush sand off her back.

Carri jerked back. "I like having sand on my back," she said matter-of-factly, willing the fingers she didn't realize she balled into a fist to open. She looked down and noticed a few grains that had slipped into her bikini. "It's that sand that can get irritating," she said more to herself than anything. She got back in her spot and they continued to play.

They played for a while, with her old acquaintances from New York continuing to drive her nuts. Eventually they decided it was time for them to leave. David held the ball. "Guys I think we had better get going so that we can get ready for tonight. Would you care to join us?" he asked turning to Carri.

"No thanks. I've got plans," she said. Which for the record, that wasn't a lie. She had a date that night.

"Well then I do expect to see you out here tomorrow," David said flashing her a smile.

She sighed. It would be so easy to blow him off for the rest of the week. Although if she was going to be out here anyway he'd figure it out, then her mom would get mad at her. At least if she gave him one more day of her time maybe things would be ok. "Sure. We'll be here," she said smiling and looking at Jason.

"Actually I" Jason never got the words out as he got an elbow in his stomach.

"See you tomorrow," David said as he gave her a hug. She half returned it. The others waved and called goodbye and Carri waved back.

"You are not leaving me alone with those people tomorrow," Carri hissed. She was beyond irritated with them, and she was afraid she was going to give David a black eye.

"Emily is off tomorrow and we are going out," Jason replied. He wasn't going to ditch his girlfriend for this, whatever crazy drama this was.

"She can come too," Carri pointed out. She would love someone else on her side.

He laughed. "I don't think that would exactly be her idea of a romantic day. Make Rocky come."

She frowned. "He can't, he's working. He's off Wednesday and Thursday for sure so if I have to play volleyball any of those day's he is coming, like it or not." She was bummed that she wasn't going to spend more of her spring break with her boyfriend, but he needed the money.

The two walked back over toward their stuff and collapsed on the sand. "So tell me why you can't just say no."

"Because... because he'll go back and tell my mom that I'm an evil bitch from hell and then... well I don't really want to know what happens then." It was hard to say with her mother. They were a lot alike, and she knew she got her temper from her mother. Carri tried hard to control it, and channeled a lot of her bad moods into pummeling monsters. Her mother wasn't physical, but she could most certainly find a way to make her regret her decisions.

Jason raised an eyebrow. He was fairly certain his friend was over exaggerating. Besides, she had two parents. "What does your dad think?"

"He just wants me to be happy. But he also wants my mom to be happy. And mom likes David." Her parents had a weird relationship. They had both turned a blind eye to a lot of things over the years, but they still loved each other. She scoffed at it, but as she learned over the years if her mother wasn't happy, even if her father would agree with her it would be much easier to side with his wife than daughter.

"So then that was the David." It was a statement not a question as he had put that puzzle together early.

She sighed. "The one and only."

"Are you going to talk to Rocky about it tonight?"

"Eh." The last thing she wanted to do was tell her current boyfriend that her ex-boyfriend was hanging around her.

"Eh?" He had a half a mind to tell the blue ranger himself. She couldn't keep that bit a secret.

"I certainly don't need him coming down here to act jealous." They had both seen him jealous before and last time it didn't work out so well. "If he never has to cross paths with David, that's fine by me. I would really prefer them to never meet because Rocky might kick his ass and that might not look good."

Jason gave her a look. She didn't say anything so he moved on to a different part of the conversation. "So, I have to ask, do you have multiple personalities? Because those aren't your type of people and you are not a cheerleader."

Carri laughed. "Well if you must know my story."

"I can't believe you haven't told me your story already."

"To be honest, nobody here really knows the details about my life in New York. Because I hated it. And I hate talking about it. And now it's here so I shall share it with you." She looked at him as she started. "When I lived in Angel Grove, I wasn't the me you know and love."

"Well..." Jason laughed as he interrupted her story.

She rolled her eyes and continued her story. "Anyway I played baseball, I surfed, I sunned, I was best friends with Matt and them... we used to have a whole group of us than hung out all the time. I lost touch with them when I moved away," she paused for a second, a frustrated sound escaping her lips as she remembered the arguments she had with her mother over the girl she was in California.

"As you know, my dad got to start his own production company in New York. So we moved there. My mom was thrilled. She thought it would be a chance for me to start fresh. My dad liked the baseball and the surfing and my friends, my mom, not so much. She wanted me to have better friends and less boyish activities." She thought she could remake her daughter into a carbon copy of her, future queen of high society. That wasn't her though, that would never be her. She could fake it really well, but at her core she was always the girl in California.

"So you think your mom approves of you now?"

She let out a huff. She knew her mother didn't approve. She was walking a fine line by defying her that way, and she was lucky her mom had yet to retaliate. She supposed it had to do with the fact that she was out of her mother's hair, never caused trouble for her aunt and uncle and stayed out of the tabloids. There was one thing she knew for certain though. "I didn't care then and I don't care now. That's part of the reason I wanted to come back so bad is because I missed all the things I loved."

He nodded and she continued. "With me having absolutely no friends in New York, my mom convinced, well pushed, me into trying out for the cheerleading squad. I made the JV squad my freshman year, and was varsity by the time I was a sophomore. That's how I became friends with Cindy and Amanda. That's how I met David. He was a quarterback on the JV squad freshman year."

"I didn't know you were such the cheerleader," Jason said. It was more than just doing it, she moved up the ladder quickly.

"My mom made me do it and I never do anything half assed," she said as she grinned at him. "Still, nobody was more surprised than I was when I made co-captain my junior year. By that time David was also one of the captains of the varsity squad, and we had been dating for almost two years. We had all been friends since then. The three of us, Cory who was our kicker, and some more we picked up over the years. By my junior year, I had really come to dislike cheerleading. And it seemed like the more I disliked it, the more involved I had to get in it. I also started to really dislike the friends my mom set me up with, and the boyfriend she loved so much. David and I had nothing in common, except he was the quarterback and I was the cheerleader." David was a jerk. She knew it the entire time but she tried to play the part. From the first day in their New York penthouse her mother indicated if she didn't give it a good go, which meant doing what she thought she should do, she would ship her daughter off to boarding school.

"So you guys broke up?"

"Right before I moved back. I was tired of him putting women down and treating me like crap." She hadn't said that to him. Her mother was letting her go to Angel Grove, she was scared to make waves and be forced back home. "My mom was so happy with everything I was doing but I missed Angel Grove so much. Kat made me so happy when she called to say that she was moving there. I spent months begging. My father was easy to convince. It was my mother who was harder. She was finally tired of listening to me so she let me go with the expectation that I would continue doing here what I did there. Of course I didn't hesitate to split it off with David and cut ties with everybody before I flew home."

"I didn't know you hated New York that much," Jason said. He knew it was something she didn't talk about, a period in her life she tried to pretend didn't happen.

"Yeah well... I got to come back home. I got to surf. And play baseball. And tan. And see my old friends. And most importantly, I met you guys who are the best friends a girl could ever ask for."

He smiled. "We are lucky to have so many friends who are so close." The rangers were friends, family even, and most people went a lifetime without finding that many close friends.

She nodded. "I don't know what I would have done if my parents had made me stay in New York." Or made her come back, which was something she worried about every day, especially when she did something she knew her parents didn't approve of.

"It would be different," Jason replied. He would never have known Carri so he wouldn't have known the friend he was missing. Now though he couldn't imagine her not have being there when he came back.

Carri decided she'd had enough of New York and switched the subject. The two of them continued to sit out there for a while talking before they decided it was time to go home.

* * *

Kim looked herself over in the mirror a dozen times. She knew that Tommy already cared about her, that it shouldn't be important what she looked like. At the same time, she wanted to make herself look, well, special for him. She sighed. Tommy would be there any minute.

This was the chance she had been waiting for. The chance to make things right with Tommy. Everything had to be perfect. She looked over at the bathroom counter and thought for a moment. She smiled as she crept into Carri's room and stole a splash of the perfume the girls loved so much. Kim had promised to buy a new one and share. Which she would, eventually. She stopped and looked at herself. She walked back into the bathroom and stared in the mirror one last time.

She thought she looked good. Well as good as she was going to get. She reached up and touched the necklace Tommy had given her for her birthday. He never stopped caring about her. And she had always loved him. Now that she was home… well the possibilities were endless. As she walked out into the living room there was a knock on the door. Kim couldn't help but smile as she answered it.

"Hey beautiful," Tommy said giving Kim a kiss on the cheek. He hoped that wasn't too much of a greeting for a girl he technically hadn't been dating for two years.

She couldn't help the blush that crept into her cheeks as Tommy's lips touched her skin. "Hey Tommy."

"Are you ready to go?" Tommy asked, the nerves he had walking to the door starting to wear off.

"Absolutely," Kim replied. She was as ready as she was ever going to be.

Tommy smiled at her as he grabbed her hand and led her out the door for a romantic night out on the town.

* * *

The apartment didn't stay empty for long. Carri and Jason were both on their way back from the beach. They did miss Kim and Tommy's departure, but not by much.

Carri burst through the door, phone in hand. "I just can't believe... it's just so irritating... I'm going to kill him."

Kat smiled from her end of the line. "Calm down. How bad can it be? He's just here for spring break, and then he's gone."

"He's going to go after me again. I know it. I mean he had the balls to try and get me to transfer to NYU," Carri said, her mind racing at one hundred miles an hour trying to figure out how to fix this.

"Well I know he's pushing and I know he's touching, but you are just going to have to bite your tongue. And not let Rocky anywhere near him," the pink ranger said with a chuckle.

Carri snickered. "I know that's right." Although if he didn't back off, it wasn't Rocky who was going to pummel him.

"Next time he sees your mom and dad, he'll tell them how happy you are in California and how your friends were so nice and blah, blah, blah." Kat was trying to defuse a bomb here. She knew her aunt, and if her cousin tried to stir up this particular pot it was going to go south quickly.

"I hope so. I mean Josh told them once. Dad thinks it's fabulous that I'm so happy. But you know mom. It's her way or death."

"Your mom just wants what's best for you," Kat replied, regretting the words as soon as they came out of her mouth.

"Oh yeah, she does, and she'll let me to anything as long as it involves me being queen of high society and an elitist." The bitterness in her voice was obvious. She did not want to follow in her mother's footsteps, and she did not believe in that life at all.

"Your mom will loosen up once she sees how good you do on your own." At least Kat hoped so. She frowned, then switched topics. "Hey do you want to go to a movie tonight?"

"Maybe the ten. I'll have to call you and see. I am going out with Rocky." She paused and thought about it. She did want to make plans with Kat. She didn't see her cousin as often as she used to. "If not tonight though, we can go tomorrow night."

Kat thought for a minute. "It will have to be after me and Chris get back."

Carri nodded. "That's fine." She vaguely remembered some big day trip Kat and Chris were taking tomorrow. Her cousin started to talk to her about it, but when she rambled on about Chris she tended to zone out. She rolled her eyes to herself as she looked at the clock. "I have to go start getting ready. I'll talk to you later."

"Alright. Talk to you later," Kat said as the girls said goodbye and hung up the phone.

Carri walked into her room and collapsed on the bed. She thought for a moment. Although Kat knew her parents, she knew of one person who she could get an even better opinion from. She picked up her phone and dialed a number.

Three rings later a man picked up. "Hello?" the familiar voice came across the phone.

"Hey," Carri casually replied as though she called her brother every day. She didn't talk to him as much as she should. She felt guilty about it, but between school and the rangers and everything else she was always busy. Of course he didn't call her much either.

"What's up?" Josh asked, happy to hear from his sister. He had been meaning to call, he just kept getting busy.

"I need some advice." Her brother has always been the go to person for advice where her parents were concerned. Whenever mom was driving one of them crazy, they leaned on each other. Until he went to college and she moved back to Angel Grove.

"Shoot."

Carri took a deep breath and prepared to tell him her story. She saw Jason come in and sit down on the bed beside her. She spent a few minutes sharing and then she waited for his reply.

"I told you he was an asshole," Josh said. He hated that cocky bastard from the minute his sister brought him home. However he was from an influential family and their mother loved him.

"Thanks," she grumbled. Like that was really helpful. If she had to hear him offer another version of I told you so over David she was going to fly to New York just to smack him. "So what do mom and dad think really?"

"You know mom. She still talks to him. He tells her how much he misses you, and how great it would be if you would come back for college. Like it or not, they know you're happy there, and they know that I think your friends are great and that your boyfriend's great." He could hear his sister grumble something about his opinion not changing their mothers and he continued. "I don't think it would hurt mom's feelings if you transferred."

"Tell her to bite me," she snapped. It would be a cold day in hell before she transferred to NYU to live the rest of her life as David's high society housewife.

Josh laughed. "Look as long as you keep your nose clean she'll leave you alone. You can stay at USC without any pressure from her to come back east."

Carri bit back a comment about how her brother was not the one to tell someone to keep their nose clean. She loved her brother, and he loved to party and she had seen him at a few frat parties in some of the tabloids. Instead she went back to her problem. "I just don't know what to do. I mean... if I tell David how I feel, or one of my friends tells him how I feel, it's going to get back to mom and dad and he's going to make it sound like either I'm a bitch or my friends are awful. I don't want them to make snap judgments based on what one asshole says before they get to meet anyone." Not that her mother was going to meet them and like them, but she'd rather them have a ten percent chance at success than zero.

"Why don't I come take care of the problem for you?"

Carri snorted. "Yeah, right. You gonna catch the next flight?"

"No I'll drive," he replied, the tone in his voice rather cocky.

"From New York?" There was definitely something up with her brother, she just couldn't put her finger on it.

"Don't be stupid. From Vegas."

"You're in Vegas?" Truthfully she wasn't really surprised. She doubted it was going to be his last vacation in Vegas.

"Well you know. Finally twenty-one. Spring break. Me and a bunch of my buddies came down. So really, I can come by in the morning, kick his ass in the afternoon, and be back in time for the late night strippers."

"Ha-ha funny."

"I'll do it. I'll be down there," he said seriously. He wanted to do this for a long time, and now he had the perfect excuse. His sister never said anything, but he saw the way David treated her.

"Are you sure? That's five hours. Each way."

"I don't do anything during the day anyway. And I could probably get my boys to come with me. They've always wanted to go to LA. If we hang around the city for a while, and we don't go back until late, well Vegas will still be here and going. Besides, what are big brothers for?"

"Ass kicking," she said with a laugh. Not that she couldn't do her own ass kicking, but it reflected less poorly on her if her brother did it.

"Exactly. I'll see you in the morning." Then before she could argue, he said goodbye and hung up.

"What was that all about?" asked Jason as he noticed the perplexed look on Carri's face.

"My brother is actually in Las Vegas. He is going to drive here and take care of my David problem for me." She shouldn't be surprised, she knew her brother hated him. This was the perfect excuse for the confrontation he wanted.

"That's a long way to drive for one afternoon," Jason pointed out. Although he knew he'd do it if one of his girls needed him.

She shrugged. "He's going to bring his friends. They want to see LA. He says it doesn't matter what time they get back." Jason smiled at her. Carri hopped off the bed. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a date tonight."

Jason took off and left Carri to get ready for her evening.

* * *

Later that night, two figures took a moonlit walk down a beach that was now empty but had been full of activity earlier.

"It's beautiful out here," Kim said as she looked out over the ocean.

"Not as beautiful as you," Tommy replied. It had been a fantastic evening and he was thrilled he could end it out here with Kim.

Kim blushed. He used to call her beautiful all the time, and it still got to her. "Thank you for taking me out tonight. It was wonderful."

"Do you know how long I've been waiting for that chance?"

"Two years would be my guess," Kim said smiling. She had been waiting the last two years to see him romantically again, although until last summer she never thought she would have a chance.

"Has it been that long since you left for Florida?" Tommy asked as Kim nodded in reply. "I can't believe it. It doesn't seem like it's been two years." He supposed he kept plenty occupied in those two years that he didn't even notice.

"I know. A lot has happened since then. A lot has changed." She frowned. Some of it was good, but there were some things in the last two years she'd like to take back.

"Most of it for the better I hope. You're a gold medal winner. You've got powers back"

Kim stopped him before he could finish that sentence. "Ninjetti powers"

"Yeah but you can still fight with us." He knew she missed being a full morphing ranger. He'd been there before, the one on the outside without powers. Even though she gave hers up willingly, he doubted it was any easier.

"Not like I used to. I missed that you know. Now it's if there's a few too many Tengas, I'm your gal. If there's real evil, not so much." Ninjetti's were strong, but they were no match for the monsters that attacked on a regular basis.

"Well if we ever need another female ranger, we know who to call." He'd love for her to be on the team again. Not that he'd ever ask anyone to quit knowing how hard it is to give up powers. Still, it would be nice.

Kim smiled. "Thank you. But I don't see that happening anytime soon. Carri and Kat are both pretty settled in LA," she paused. It would be nice if one of them left. She doubted Carri ever would, her best friend was made to be a ranger. If Kat ever wanted to pursue other things though she'd be happy to step in for her. She shook her head to herself. That wasn't what she had been thinking about earlier, and she needed to switch topics. "Besides, that wasn't exactly what I was talking about when I said change."

"Then what were you talking about?"

"We've changed. I broke up with you over nothing, you dated Kat, I excelled in gymnastics, and you started college..." her voice trailed off. It was hard thinking about what they had been through, but they had to acknowledge it if they were going to move forward.

Tommy raised one brow in concern. He wanted to forget about the past, it wasn't important to him now. "None of that matters anymore. I broke up with Kat - well she broke up with me. And we are both in school now."

"You'll graduate a semester before me," she pointed out.

Tommy stopped walking and looked over at her. "It doesn't matter. I'll wait for you." He didn't want her to think that he'd ever move on and forget her.

"For what?" she asked as she stopped and turned so she was standing in front of him.

"Forever."

"Tommy," Kim said with a smile as she put an arm around him.

"It doesn't matter to me what happens in the future, or what has happened. You're back, you're here with me, and everything else is, well, trivial."

"I know. The first thing... well the reason that I moved back was you. Sure I missed talking to Kat and Rocky and Carri, I mean we have become such good friends, and Jason, I've known him forever. But nobody made me want to come back more than you. Especially after I saw you last summer."

Tommy was somewhat surprised. After all she hadn't even known he broke up with Kat when she moved back. That she would come back even if they were only going to be friends meant a lot to him. A thought crossed his mind and he had to share it. "Do you regret coming home?"

"Absolutely not. I have missed you guys, this place, so much. No Olympic dream is worth giving all this up for." She enjoyed training, enjoyed the Pan Globals, but this is where her heart was.

"Are you sure? That's a lot to give up."

"You were a lot to give up. My powers were a lot to give up. The Olympics… that was just a fantasy with no guarantees. Even if I got on the team, it still wouldn't make me as happy as being back here does."

"Well we're all glad you have you back," Tommy said. He understood. If it had been him, he would have returned. Of course he doubted he would have been able to leave in the first place.

"It makes me happy to hear you say that."

Tommy looked at her. "I am especially glad to have you back."

She gazed up into his eyes. "You make everything worth it."

He leaned down and gave her a kiss. She looked up and him and smiled, as she pressed her lips against his one more time. They continued looking into each other's eyes. With one last passionate kiss, Tommy took her hand and continued to walk with her down the shoreline.

* * *

"Bleh. Young love," Rita said stepping away from her telescope. She had turned away from spying on Trini and Billy in the coffee shop long enough to see Tommy and Kim kissing. "You know I always knew that blondie would have to stay evil to hold onto him."

"Well sis why don't we try and make her evil again," suggested Rito. It seemed like a good enough idea to him.

"So she can go after Tommy? Too much work. Besides, she's lost interest," Rita told him. She'd seen the boy Kat was chasing. He didn't seem to have as much potential as Tommy but to each their own.

"Why don't you let me go down there and confront the red ranger? That will break the two up," Goldar suggested, dying to get down to the surface and involved in some action.

"Goldar, let the rangers have their fun," Lord Zedd said as he walked into his throne room.

"Why your highness?"

"Because my plan is finally finished. I am going to destroy those power rangers," Zedd told him, feeling a confidence he hadn't felt in a while.

"Right now?" asked Rita as her excitement grew.

"No. There is one more component of my plan that won't be ready until the morning. But tomorrow my dear, tomorrow will bring the destruction of those power punks."

Rita frowned. "I don't know if I can wait that long." The thought caused the beginnings of another headache to start to come to the surface. She needed them gone and she needed them gone now.

Rito scratched his head. "So does that mean that nobody can go down there tonight and attack?"

"Let the rangers have their fun tonight, because tonight will be their last," Zedd said as he laughed and took a seat so that he could spy on the rangers as well.

* * *

Late that night Kim came home, feeling quite pleased with her night. She was surprised to see Billy standing in the kitchen. Carri and Jason had already gone to bed. "What are you still doing up?" she asked. Out of the three, he would have been the last one she picked to still be awake.

"I was... out," Billy replied, unsure of how much he wanted to say of his evening with Trini.

"Out?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"So where have you been?" Billy asked trying to get her off subject.

"Out," she replied smiling. If he was going to be elusive, she would be too. "You were with Trini weren't you?"

He smiled. "I assume you were with Tommy." He'd only seen the giddy look on his friend's face once before and that was at the start of their relationship.

"We had our first date. Just don't tell the others yet. We will on our own time," she told him. She wanted to tell Carri and Jason, but not right now. She was glad it was Billy who found out. He was one of the few rangers she could trust not to spread the secret around the ranger community.

"You're secret's safe with me," Billy assured her.

Kim nodded, then turned her attention to the other matter at hand. "What about you and Trini? Are you, ya know, dating?"

"Well... yes... I guess you could say that as of today its official," Billy told her.

"Billy that's great." She was thrilled the two finally got together. She had thought they would be perfect for each other in high school.

"Yes. We are going to try to make the long distance thing work. We'll see how it goes."

"I'm sure it will work out for you guys." Kim assured him. She knew her two friends, they wouldn't let anything break this up.

"It didn't work for you and Tommy."

"That's because... that's because I knew that Kat was here and I didn't want him to feel obligated to me if he had any kind of feelings for her. We always loved each other." Her and Tommy weren't exactly the poster couple for long distance relationships. She had royally screwed that one up and she never should have.

Billy smiled. "I know."

"Well, I think I'm off to bed. I still have a lot of that paper to work on." Kim said with a smile.

"Me too. I actually have something I have been working on really hard for the guys. I just got behind because... well..."

"Because you've been courting Trini."

Billy blushed. "Well, yeah. I hope the others don't get mad at me."

"For what? For spending time with someone you care about instead of wasting every moment cooped up in the Power Chamber?" If anything the others would cheer him on.

"I guess you're right. It's just, you know, I've been doing a lot for them and"

Kim cut him off. "They love what you do for them, but they love you more. Your happiness is more important than anything you could possibly create for them." She knew she and Carri had talked about it. Both wanted Billy to find someone in his life, especially after his last disaster of a relationship with Cestria.

"You think so?" asked Billy, one eyebrow raised.

"I know so," replied Kim with a slight nod.

Billy smiled at his friend as he started to walk towards the bedrooms. "Goodnight Kim." He was glad he could talk to her. She was good at reassuring him about everything.

"Night Billy," she said, and then the two friends walked into their bedrooms and went to sleep, both thinking of the day's events.

* * *

Kim woke up early the next morning. Billy was the only one who had beaten her out of bed. She had breakfast and got ready before sitting back down with her paper. She hoped that a few more hours out of her day and she would be triumphantly finished. The apartment was quiet. Nobody else had emerged yet. Well, Jason had gotten up around ten thirty, grabbed breakfast, and went back to his room. He had wanted to give her some quiet time. Carri hadn't shown her face yet, but she had heard movement in her room. She assumed she was up.

At least with them being quiet she had gotten to do a lot on her paper. She was confident that she would be able to finish that afternoon. She was completely focused on her paper until she heard a knock at the door. Glancing at the clock on her computer, she realized it was a little before noon. Kim took a moment to stretch before she got up and went to the door, glancing through the peephole. She didn't recognize her visitor so she only opened the door enough to try and figure out what was going on.

"Hi," the guy said smiling at her.

"Hello. Can I help you?" she asked. He looked close to their age, probably a bit older. She took a minute to study his face. He sort of reminded her of a certain yellow ranger.

"I'm looking for Carri. This is the right place isn't it?"

"Yeah," Kim said extending the door open. She knew Carri had an older brother and she was starting to get the feeling this was him. "She hasn't actually come out to the world of the living yet though."

He walked through the door as he rolled his eyes. "Figures."

She looked him over. "And you would be?" She prompted, although she was confident she already knew the answer.

"Sorry," he apologized for not identifying himself earlier. He extended his hand. "Josh Hillard."

"Kimberly Hart," she said taking his hand, satisfied she figured out the mystery on her own. "But you can call me Kim."

"Well if you could tell my sister than I didn't drive all morning for her lazy ass to stay in bed, I would appreciate it." Not that he expected her to be up. Sleeping until noon wasn't completely out of character for his sister.

"Not a problem," she said walking down the hall. She knocked on Carri's door. When she didn't immediately get a response she knocked again.

"Be out in a sec," Carri called through the door. She'd heard the knock, heard her brothers voice come down the hallway. She knew she needed to hurry up and get out there.

"Ok," Kim called back as she walked back out. "Can I get you anything?"

"No thanks. I'm good," Josh said. He took a minute to really look at his sister's friend. She was cute, and if he wasn't heading right back to Vegas he might consider making a move.

The bedroom door cracked open and Carri walked out, dressed in a bikini with shorts and a spaghetti strap on over it. Josh looked over at her and raised an eyebrow. "You're actually ready to go?" He had expected her to slink out in her PJ's, claiming to need another hour before they left.

"Of course," she said with a roll of her eyes. When they lived in Angel Grove before she slept in on the weekends. When they lived in New York, she'd sleep until eleven then hide quietly in her room, letting her parents think she was still asleep for another hour or two just so she could avoid them or her so called friends. "Just let me grab a bite to eat," she said as she walked over and gave her brother a hug. "How are you?"

"Good," he replied, returning the gesture.

"Where are your friends?" she asked as she went to make a sandwich. She half expected to find a group of boys standing around, all waiting to do the macho thing.

"I had them drop me off here. They wanted to see some LA sites. They may find the beach later, if we are still out there." He didn't expect to be on the beach too long. David would be easy to take care of.

"Have you met Kim?" Carri asked, watching as he nodded. She gave him a slight nod back as she turned her attention toward her lunch.

"So you came to visit your sister?" asked Kim. She was surprised Carri didn't mention it. They usually told each other everything.

"Something like that," Josh replied, the edges of his lips curling up in something that resembled a smile. He was excited for the opportunity his sister presented him with. He didn't consider himself a violent person, but when it came to his sister he'd do what he needed and what had needed to be done for a long time was to put David in his place.

Kim looked at Carri and the yellow ranger simply shrugged. "You've been unavailable the last day. I haven't had time to catch you up on current events. If you are here when I get back, I'd be glad to," Carri paused before smiling wickedly at her, "or if you come down to the beach with us..."

Kim grinned. "I might be here when you get back. And I might show up at the beach later. I am almost done with my paper. Is anybody else going?"

"Rocky will whenever he gets off. Tommy is. I'm not sure when though. He didn't give me a time, I didn't ask. Usually with him it's just a ballpark guess anyway." Carri made a face and Kim caught her look and chuckled. Telling Tommy a time to be there was useless, and asking him was almost just as bad. He was late even when he set the schedule.

During their conversation, a bedroom door creaked open out of sight. A few seconds later, Jason appeared. "I'm going," he said as he went to stand beside Carri, stealing one of the potato chips she had thrown on her plate as he did.

Carri looked at him, the question that was bothering her more important than the fact he stole her food. "What happened to the romantic afternoon with Emily?"

He made a face. He would have much rather had the romantic afternoon, but it just didn't work out. "One of Ernie's waitresses begged Emily to cover for her at the beach club today. So Emily is working today, and the other girl is taking Emily's shift tomorrow. So we rescheduled."

Josh nudged Carri. He didn't know this guy. Hell he didn't even know that she was rooming with a guy. He really didn't care, as long as the guy respected her. Otherwise he'd have to kick his ass after he was done with David. Mom may not like it though.

Carri realized that her brother had never met Jason. "Jason, this is my brother Josh. Josh, I'd like for you to meet one of my very good friends Jason." She briefly wondered if it was odd for her brother to see her living with a guy. She wasn't quite sure how to explain Jason to him. To everyone she met, she said he was like her brother, but this was her actual brother and that made the explanation feel odd.

The boys shook hands, both sizing each other up. "Nice to meet you," Josh said.

"You too," Jason replied.

"So who has the fourth room?" Josh asked. He noticed four bedroom doors when he peeked down the hallway and there were only three people out here.

"Our friend Billy. He left early for work this morning," Kim told him.

Josh thought for a moment. "I've met Billy, haven't I?"

Carri nodded as she took the last few bites of her sandwich. She went to grab the last chip but Jason beat her to it. She gave him a quick elbow before looking up at her brother. "You ready?"

"As ready as I'm going to be," Josh replied. He hadn't missed the exchange between the two. She seemed to accept this guy, he figured he would too, at least until he gave him a reason not to.

The trio walked towards the door. "Good luck with your paper," Jason said as they passed Kim.

"Yeah hurry up and finish it so you can come down," Carri said as Jason chuckled. She wanted as many people as she could get down there.

"I will. I'll see you guys later," Kim said, exchanging goodbyes with them before they left, giving her some much needed silence to finish her paper.

* * *

"So did you decide to tell Rocky?" Jason asked as they walked down the beach. He was hoping she did, but knowing her she omitted that detail.

"Well," she grinned sheepishly, "I told him Josh and his friends were in Vegas and they were coming to LA to visit. I told him that I ran into some old friends on the beach."

"So what happens if he drops by this afternoon?" It was an argument waiting to happen. If he was Rocky and he stumbled on Carri with her ex-boyfriend, he'd be furious.

She shrugged, not at all concerned. If things went as planned David would be long gone by that time. "Josh will have taken care of the problem by then and the three of us, Rocky, Tommy and Kim can play volleyball."

"Zack and Trini may come by in a few hours, if we're still here. They wanted to spend some extra time with their families," Jason told her. He knew that initially the duo said they weren't coming back out to LA, but they didn't want to miss the opportunity to hang out on the beach once with their friends before they went back.

"That would be cool," Carri said. She hadn't seen them as much as she thought she would. Trini had spent most of her time here with Billy. Zack hung around a bit, and when he wasn't visiting his family he was hanging out in their apartment with Kim and Jason.

"Who's Zack and Trini?" asked Josh, trying to get a hold of his sister's friends.

Carri smiled. Her brother knew the duo, even if the names didn't ring a bell. "You remember the two kids I ran around with in elementary school? And you thought it was funny to make fun of us because we were shorter than you?"

Josh laughed as he thought about the little boy and girl who had been two of Carri's first friends. As far as he knew, after they switched schools she didn't have any contact with them. "Wow that's been a long time. I can't believe you met back up with them."

"Turns out, they became best friends with the same group I became best friends with when I came back. They have been in Europe doing work, and they came home for a visit." Carri explained, looking away from her brother and toward the beach. As she turned, she saw someone approaching them. "Great."

"Hey!" David yelled as he led his group down the beach. He walked up to them. "You didn't tell me your brother would be here."

Josh smiled, trying to be friendly, although they both knew they weren't each other's biggest fans. "I was in Vegas. And I told my sister I couldn't be so close without coming by to say hello."

"You remember everybody right?" David asked, gesturing to the rest of the group.

Josh looked over. He remembered Cindy, Cory and Amanda. They were part of his sister's circle of… well he wouldn't exactly call them friends. However he didn't know the other guy. "Except him."

"Paul Jacobs," he said extending his hand.

He took it. "Josh Hillard."

"Come on guys, let's play a game," David said grabbing Carri's hand and walking off. David's friends followed close by.

"I've wanted to step in for her, but she won't let me," Jason said once the others were out of earshot. He moved in David's direction more than once the day before, but each time Carri shot him a warning look.

"She doesn't want you guys to get involved. Don't worry I'll take care of it," Josh assured him. He was the only person Carri would let step in. He understood, mom didn't like her friends and she didn't know them. If she heard that one of them socked David, the douche she still loved and whose mother was her friend, she'd never even give them a chance.

"Just do her a favor and do it before Rocky swings by." The last thing he wanted was the blue ranger involved. Rocky wasn't going to tolerate David's behavior in the least.

Josh smiled. "Don't worry I don't plan on letting it last that long."

The two caught up to the others and saw that they had already started dividing people. Jason noticed that the court looked the same as yesterday.

"Why don't you play with us," David said pointed to Jason, "and you can play over there."

The fact that David didn't want him on the same team came as no surprise to Josh. He simply nodded and took his spot as the game began. He watched as things progressed. David kept on his sister, doing things like putting his hand on her. It was irritating to watch, but he just had to wait for the right moment. He wanted to make sure that if David complained about the Hillard siblings, they would be able to justify themselves. He was hoping David wouldn't complain at all, that whatever he did to cross the line he wouldn't want getting out.

They didn't play much more than an hour before Josh was given a reason to intervene. The ball kept sailing back and forth. Carri was trying to stay near Jason and away from David. At one point David squeezed in between the two and jumped up and hit the ball hard. It went flying out of bounds and towards the ocean. Paul took off for the ball.

"My bad," David said as he turned toward Carri and grinned. He missed the roll of her eyes as she started to walk off. He grabbed her by the arm and spun her towards him. "Isn't this great?" he asked.

Great her ass. She gave him a small smile and held back her comment. She had to keep reminding herself that she did not want her mother to figure out a way to force her back home. She had to play nice. "I love being on the beach and playing volleyball."

"No, I mean me and you. Hanging together, just like old times." He missed her. The two of them were golden in high school. They could have that again.

"It's fun." About as fun as being stranded in the Lunar Palace.

He put both hands on her arms and looked into her eyes. "I know we broke up because you were coming home. I know how much you missed Angel Grove. But I missed you. And I know you missed me. So why don't we give us another chance? You can come to New York next year and we can be together."

She resisted the urge to throw up at the thought of going back to be with David. Instead of giving him the middle finger, she came up with a nicer way of saying screw you. "I can't. I'm seeing someone here and I'm really happy." Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Josh approach the net and Jason stand by his side.

David grabbed her arms tighter. "We worked so well. And we loved each other."

"That hurts," she hissed looking at him, the stare deadly enough to cause most people to back down. She would not lose her temper, she would not pummel him. "And love is such a strong word."

"Tell me that this isn't love," he said as he forced her to him and gave her a kiss.

Josh had seen enough. He grabbed David's shoulder and yanked his head back. "Don't touch her," he threatened, ready to haul off and kill him right there.

Carri made a face as David's head went flying back. She was glad her brother was there, she was about to use some of her fighting skills on her ex. She was relieved when Josh started to step in between them, but instead of separate from her David grabbed her and forced her to the side. She slipped and hit the sand between Josh and David, then scooted back, crossing her arms and clenching her fists while tapping her foot in the sand. It was probably better for her to remain sitting. If she stood she'd clobber him.

Jason knelt down beside her. "Are you ok?" he asked. He wasn't worried about her physically. As a ranger, a bump on the sand would be the least of her worries for the week he was sure. He was worried she was about to explode. The signs were there, anybody who knew Carri knew her temper was dangerously close to boiling over. She took a deep breath and nodded as she looked up at Josh and David.

"What do you think you're doing?" asked David. He was trying to connect with his ex. He couldn't imagine that she didn't have feelings for him.

"Keeping you away from my sister," Josh said, crossing his arms and squaring himself up against David.

"You think you need to protect her? From me?" It was a strange thought, he loved her and he'd never hurt her.

Josh nodded. "I think you just made that obvious."

"She still loves me you know."

"No, my mom still loves you. She loves someone else. She never loved you." He was deluded if he thought his sister was in love with him. He was starting to think the boy did need an ass kicking.

"If she cares so much about someone else, then why is he not out here with her?" As far as he could tell Carri had one male friend in California and that seemed to be plutonic. If she had a boyfriend, he'd be here every day. No way he'd let his hot girlfriend go to the beach alone.

"She would invite him but she's afraid he'd kick your ass."

David laughed as his friends came and stood by his side. "I think the only one who's getting an ass kicking is you."

With that, Jason stood up and glared at him. If the three of them were going to go after Josh, he was going to fight. Of course his stepping in wouldn't be fair to them, but that's what they got when they picked a fight with a ranger.

To his surprise, David simply smiled. "It's still two on three. With those odds, I think you need to leave." The threat was clear in his voice.

"Fine. We'll all go," Jason said as he started to extend a hand to Carri to pull her up.

David grabbed Jason's hand and knocked it away. "Not her. She's welcome with us. The two of you have to leave."

"Don't worry about leaving. I have some business to take care of first anyway," Josh said as he glared at David. He'd come all this way to finally get David off of his sister's case, he wasn't leaving before he finished the job.

Carri watched the boys argue. She wished more than anything that she could just make him go away. That she could put him on a plane, and ship him back to New York, one way, never to return again. She thought briefly about shipping him to the Lunar Palace, and thought that Rita and Zedd might actually take him in and make him an evil minion gave her a small laugh. She could take him out then. The humor was a nice distraction, and she was so into the thought that she almost missed the other figure drop his stuff down with hers and Jason's and jog over there.

"You don't want to do this Josh. Besides, it's an unfair fight," David told him. Josh would be a piece of cake and as for his friend, well the other two could take him down quickly.

"Three on three seems pretty fair to me," Tommy said as he walked over and stood beside Jason. He had no idea what was going on, but if the green ranger and Carri's brother were standing strong against someone, he was going to stand on their side.

Carri smiled. Now maybe David would consider backing off and leaving her alone. The three boys were intimidating, especially the two rangers, and if she didn't know them as well as she did she would have turned the other way and took off.

With a sigh she glanced around the beach. She saw Cindy and Amanda standing together a ways away. They smiled at her. She knew they didn't want to come over, that they didn't want to be involved. As she turned away from them, something caught her eye. The fight with David was forgotten and she reached over and tugged Tommy's swim trunks. "Uh, guys..."

Tommy swatted her hand away. They were too involved in what they were doing. She sighed. "Fine then I'll just fight the forces of evil on my own." She jumped to her feet as she spoke and moved into a fighting stance.

"Suit yourself," Rito said as he sent Tengas in her direction.

The minute the birds started squawking loudly, the boys stopped arguing and turned to see what was going on. Carri kicked one bird back as the others advanced on everyone else. For the moment, the boys forgot about arguing with each other and started taking out some aggression on the Tengas. Amanda and Cindy were trying to huddle away from the group.

Carri hit one Tenga and got smacked from behind by Rito, which sent her sailing to the ground. She sat up, spitting out grains of sand. "That was a cheap shot." She stood up and turned to face Rito. She never noticed David come at her from the side. He put his arms around her and threw both of them to the ground and out of Rito's path.

"What do you think you're doing? You should go over there with the other girls and let us handle this," he said not letting her get up. He refused to let her get into the middle of this. It was a man's fight.

"I'll be fine. Now move," she said with a hiss. He refused. He wasn't going to let her up until she agreed to hide. She knew she had to jump back into the fight, especially when she saw the monster come down.

"Hm... where to start...," said Zedd and Rita's latest creation. "There, that looks good."

Before Carri had a chance to jump up, the monster threw some sort of net around her and David, temporarily paralyzing them both. Tommy and Josh saw what happened. The others had been drawn from the fight by Rito, who was distracting them at the moment. The two boys ran over to help, but couldn't avoid being caught in one of the monsters nets.

Cindy saw the monster scanning the area. She stepped away from Amanda and started running towards the others. "Guys look out!" she yelled mainly for her boyfriend.

The monster smiled as he threw his final net over her. Then he and all three nets disappeared.

Jason kicked Rito back. As Rito regained his balance, he looked for the monster. He had heard him come in. However, he didn't see him. Now five of the kids that were on the beach were missing. Even an idiot like Rito couldn't miss what had happened here. "Ed's not going to like this too much," he said. As he turned to go back to the fight, he got attacked by two Zeo rangers.

The blue and pink rangers worked furiously to defeat the Tengas and Rito. It didn't take them long to send them packing. Amanda came flying over and threw her arms around Paul is tears fell down her cheeks. "They took them," she choked out through the tears

"What the hell happened here?" asked Cory, panicked that his girlfriend was missing.

"A monster has kidnapped your friends," Rocky gave them a quick explanation. "But don't worry, we'll get them back." Hopefully quickly, considering his girlfriend was among those missing.

"You guys just hang tight," Kat said as the two rangers' teleported off.

Jason waited a second then started to jog down the beach. He needed to teleport to the Power Chamber, he had to know what happened to his friends.

"Where are you going? Those guys just said for us to stay," Cory said, trying to sound authoritative.

"I've... I've got to let their significant others know what happened so they don't worry," Jason came up with an excuse as he went searching for a place to teleport.

* * *

Zedd saw the five paralyzed figures appear in a cage a few meters in front of him. He could feel his blood boiling as he looked at their faces. One glance at Rita showed the disappointment on her face. He stormed off and approached the monster. "I gave you one simple task. To bring me the power rangers. And you have failed."

"I did not fail you my lord. I brought you the blonde, the long haired one, the brunette, her boyfriend and their friend," the monster explained his actions.

"Idiot! Did you not even look at the information we gave you?" Zedd asked. This was the perfect plan. How could this monster fail him? Before he could ponder any further, he heard the group start to regain their feeling. He looked over at them, glaring at two in particular. "They'll have to do," he said as he walked over and stood in front of the cage. "Welcome to your worst nightmare."

Carri rolled her eyes. "Sorry that started yesterday." Anything Zedd was bringing was almost a welcome distraction at this point.

"Silence!" he yelled.

Josh, David and Cindy jumped. Tommy glanced over at Carri. "What do you want with us?" he asked. Whatever Zedd was up to, he wished he hadn't involved civilians. It was going to make it that much harder.

"Simple. To kill you," Zedd replied, briefly locking eyes with the red ranger who seemed to acknowledge the reason for their capture as expected.

They could hear Cindy start to cry in the back. David put a hand on Carri's shoulder. She brushed it off and briefly wondered if she could volunteer him to go first in whatever Zedd had planned. That was the ex-girlfriend in her talking though. The ranger in her knew they had to protect all citizens, no matter how much of a douche they were.

"Let the girls go," Josh said, concerned for his sister.

"No. I think they will have as much fun in the Maze of Doom as the rest of you," he said as he laughed. With one wave of his wand, all five disappeared. Zedd walked back over to Rita.

"You promised the destruction of the power rangers," she whined as she felt the beginnings of another headache.

"Well if I could get some good help around here...," Zedd said looking at the monster. He turned to Rita. "Don't worry, if we destroy two rangers and three civilians, it will tear apart the rest of the team leaving them vulnerable."

Rita managed a smile. She looked at the monster. "And what about him?"

"He can go down to Earth and try to finish the job," Zedd growled glaring at the monster. The monster nodded and took off.

* * *

Rocky and Kat quickly appeared in the Power Chamber and took off their helmets. "What happened?" Kat asked looking to Zordon for answers.

"It appears as though Lord Zedd's monster has taken Tommy and Carri, as well as three others, to another dimension," Zordon explained. He wasn't sure why he took three civilians. If it was as leverage against Tommy and Carri, they could be in trouble.

"One of Rita's dimensions?" asked Rocky. They had experience with Rita's dimensions before.

"It doesn't look like it," said Billy, who had been working quickly to come up with answers since the others disappeared.

"Why would they take three random people?" asked Kat. It didn't make any sense to her. Usually it was rangers first, rest of the world later.

"Maybe the monster thought they were you," suggested Alpha. There were similarities between the civilians that were taken and the rangers.

"That's absurd, why would a monster think that?" asked Rocky as Jason teleported in.

"Maybe Jason can answer that question. He was down there," Billy pointed out.

"What question?" asked Jason, wondering if this was going to be as bad of a question as he was afraid it was.

"Why a monster would kidnap two rangers and three random people, possibly mistaking the others for us," Rocky filled him in on what they had been discussing.

"I... I don't know. If he'd never seen our pictures before, and just gotten descriptions... maybe he could get it confused. Everything did move so quickly... I think Josh was standing with Tommy, maybe because they were friends they thought he was me. Cindy is a tall skinny blonde... and David," Jason stopped short and mentally cringed a little. David was all over Carri in his attempt to protect her. Now wasn't the time to mention that to Rocky though. They had a job to do.

"David what? Was he one of Josh's friends?" asked Rocky. He didn't know David, or Cindy for that matter. However Carri did say her brother was coming by with some of his friends.

Kat shot Jason a look. But it was too late now. He couldn't very well lie to him. "No. He used to be a friend of Carri's. He's from New York."

Rocky raised an eyebrow. "Tell me that it's a coincidence that David is her ex-boyfriend's name." He glared at Jason, who didn't have any response. "So she kept me in the dark so she could run around with her ex-boyfriend?" he asked, feeling hurt. He stopped as something hit him. "The reason the monster would have mistaken him for me - he was all over her wasn't he?"

"Rocky you know that's not true," Kat said putting a hand on his shoulder. Carri would never let David do anything that would compromise her relationship with Rocky.

Jason looked at his friend. "Not entirely. He was all over her, but she didn't want him to be. She made that clear. For the last two days he's been trying to touch her and insist that she come back with him and she felt like her hands were tied. She couldn't blow him off. Her mother apparently cherishes his opinion. That's why Josh was there. To take care of her problem. That's why she couldn't tell you. She couldn't have you beating the crap out of him, and then him running back and telling her mom how bad she was and how cruel you were."

Rocky frowned. "I wish she had told me."

"She didn't want you to worry. She didn't want to confront him and give him the chance to give her parents a bad impression, and she knew you wouldn't stand for her being mistreated," Kat told him. She thought her cousin was a bit wrong on the issue. How could her parents possibly not like Rocky if he stood up for her?

Rocky nodded. That was certainly true. He wouldn't have stood for it in the least. He couldn't believe she did, she usually wouldn't put up with crap like that from anybody. He didn't know the entire story, but he imagined when he did it would make sense. "If it was that bad I'm surprised she didn't pummel him already." He voiced some of his jumbled up thoughts out loud.

Jason chuckled. He knew she was afraid of getting sent back to New York, but he'd let her voice those thoughts with Rocky later. Instead he gave a more comical response. "She probably already sacrificed him to Lord Zedd to save herself – her mom would never know."

The thought brought a smile to Rocky's face. "I wouldn't be surprised, but" he didn't get to finish his thought as the alarm went off.

"Rangers Zedd's monster is attacking Angel Grove. You must go down there, but be careful of his nets," Alpha said.

"Right," Rocky said, shifting back into ranger mode. "Back to action." The pink and blue Zeo rangers put their helmets back on as Jason morphed into the green Zeo ranger.

* * *

When they arrived on the scene, the monster was waiting for them. "Ha. You rangers can't stop me," he bellowed.

"We'll see about that," Jason replied. He wanted to make short work of this guy and get back to his friends.

The rangers and the monster started to fight. The monster tried to trap the rangers. He thought if he could bring the rest of them to Lord Zedd, all would be forgiven. The rangers however did not make easy targets.

They were dodging the monsters attacks, while trying to launch some of their own. They wanted to pull out the Zeo Cannon and bring him down, but they couldn't without somehow distracting him first.

As if Trey read their minds, he teleported down behind the monster. "It's time for a gold rush!" he yelled. The monster turned around just in time to see the staff hit him. As he got up and turned to face the other rangers, they fired a weapon of their own. The monster hit the ground hard.

Rita and Zedd would not let the rangers go that easily. As he hit the ground, they transformed him to city wrecking size.

"Not again," Rocky said sighing. "We need Super Zeo Zord power now!"

The three rangers jumped into their Super Zeo Zords, quickly followed by Pyramidas. They fought Zedd's monster for a while, and with the help of the Super Zeo MegaZord, they brought him down.

"Thanks for the help Trey," Jason said, giving a nod to the Gold Ranger.

"Anytime," Trey replied before teleporting himself off.

Following his cue, the rangers teleported off as well, heading back to the Power Chamber to see what Billy had found out.

* * *

Zedd had slung his five captives to different corners of his Maze of Doom. He knew that it was possible they would survive the maze. That he had counted on. They wouldn't, however, survive the finish line. That he was looking forward to.

Upon arrival, all of them quickly realized they would have to fend for themselves, at least for the time being. The first two to find each other were Carri and Cindy, which turned out to be a good thing given that Cindy wasn't dealing well at all. After Carri had gotten her to quit sobbing, she convinced her that they had to keep moving or else they would be killed.

"Do you really think they want to kill us?" Cindy asked, watching as her friend nodded. "Why?"

Carri sighed. She was focused on getting out of here and she was tired of trying to help Cindy understand. "I don't know. Weird stuff happens when you're near Angel Grove."

Cindy had another question on her tongue but she stopped when she saw movement. Then she shrieked. "Those birds are back."

The yellow ranger followed her line of sight to see more Tengas appear. She fought them while trying to protect Cindy, who was cowering behind her. She had knocked most of them back, when one came at her twirling some sort of weapon. Carri grabbed Cindy by the wrist. "Run!" she exclaimed as the two took off.

They had no idea where they were going. It was hard enough to maneuver through Zedd's maze without a Tenga on their heels. Carri took what turned out to be a wrong turn and she ran towards a dead end. She had to think quickly. "Get down!" she yelled as they approached the back wall. Cindy fell to the floor as the Tenga took a swing near their mid sections. Carri used her forward momentum to take a few steps up the stone wall. The Tenga swung above Cindy's head and below Carri's feet. As Carri got to her highest point, she pushed off the wall and kicked the surprised Tenga back.

She landed in fighting stance, ready for whatever came next. However she didn't have to worry about another attack, because while the bird was dazed, Tommy kicked him in the stomach causing him to drop the weapon. He picked it up and used it to knock the Tenga out. "I thought that was you running by."

"Thanks Tommy," Carri said as she helped Cindy up. She would have taken him out but it was nice to have the red ranger with them now.

"Come on, let's get out of here," said Tommy as he motioned for the girls to follow. There was no need standing in one place. They had to keep moving and find a way out.

"Have you seen the others?" Carri asked as she moved to get into step with Tommy. He shook his head no. "I'm worried about Josh."

"And David," Cindy chimed in.

"I'm sure they're alright," Tommy replied. So far all he'd seen were Tengas. They were a threat, but two physically fit men should be able to handle themselves.

Carri sighed as she looked around the maze. She folded her arms and shivered. A bikini on the beach felt fabulous. A bikini in here, not so much. She felt Tommy's hands on her shoulder as he rubbed her arms to try and warm her up. "Anything?" he asked. He was cold, and given she was wearing less clothes and had less body mass she had to be worse off.

She gave him a half smile. "Thanks for trying though."

"I don't even have a shirt to offer," Tommy said. He had been ready for soaking up the sun as well, and was wearing nothing but his swim trunks.

"I'll live," she told him with a shrug. She appreciated the gesture though. "Well hopefully," she added remembering her surroundings.

"Is this your boyfriend?" Cindy asked, curious about who was putting his hands all over her friend.

Tommy smiled. "No, I'm her best friend's boyfriend."

Carri shot him a look. "Since when?" Their situation was momentarily forgotten as she prepared to drill her teammate.

He flashed her a half smile. "Since last night."

"And you didn't tell me?" she asked, eyes narrowing.

"Nope," he said with a grin on his face. He had a feeling if she'd appeared at the apartment before they left Kim wouldn't have been able to help herself. Fortunately, they got one date out of the way without being hounded.

"All that pestering I've been doing and she couldn't even tell me she was going on a date," she said pouting.

"Kim and I decided we wanted to go on a date first before we told anyone, especially you and Jason because of the pestering."

Carri laughed. It was a valid point. She and Jason were asking Kim at least once a day if Tommy had asked her out yet. "Fine. I'm just glad you guys finally did it."

Tommy had a reply but he stopped suddenly and took a step forward, weapon in hand. More Tengas had shown up to try and take them out.

* * *

"Have you found anything?" Rocky asked Billy as they powered down.

"Well I have some good news. When the monster teleported back down, we tried to run a trace on its signature. We found the dimension that it came from. There was evidence of two evil signatures recently there. There was also evidence of two Zeo signatures and three other humans. The signatures were sent elsewhere. We can't pinpoint them exactly, but we have an idea. It shouldn't take us long to find them." Billy explained. The process was a shot in the dark. He didn't know if he could follow the monster's trail, but fortunately he'd left quite a few residual breadcrumbs.

"What do we do when we find them?" asked Kat, ready to run in for the rescue.

"It is doubtful that Lord Zedd will allow you to teleport in to his dimension." Alpha pointed out. Zedd was smart, they had to assume he'd put up the necessary barriers to prevent teleportation.

"However my dimensional device will allow you access. If I can get Kim's help, then the three of you can go in and rescue the others," Billy told them. He'd thought this through already.

"Sounds like a plan," Jason said. He was sure everything was alright, all the same he'd like to get his two friends out of there.

"Can we do anything to help?" asked Rocky, anxious to get the others back.

"No. But this shouldn't take much longer," Billy assured him.

Rocky sighed as he leaned against a console and waited for results. He couldn't help but worry about his girlfriend. Thinking about his girlfriend made him think about her ex. He wished she told him what was going on. He could have helped. He would have... well he would have gone to the beach and confronted David. Maybe he could still do that. After all, he was almost to the beach when this whole thing started, having been let out a little early with a promise to work until lunch the next day. He was on his way home to surprise his girlfriend. He smiled. Once they made it out of this jam, he would definitely see what he could do to help.

* * *

David had found Josh first in the maze. He was more concerned about finding the girls. Well Carri anyway. He was afraid for her life out here. He did still love her. And he truly believed that she still cared about him. He sighed as he and Josh continued to walk around. They weren't talking, but there was certainly something to be said about safety in numbers. Especially with these giant birds around.

Of course, they hadn't really been fighting the birds. More like running from them. It was harder than expected with the maze they were trying to navigate. Suddenly they heard a noise. They couldn't be sure what it was. Maybe the birds? Then they heard it again. It was definitely female, and it was definitely screaming.

The two boys raced to where they thought the source of the screaming was coming from. It was getting louder as they got closer. They knew they were on the right path when they saw Carri slide across the floor and hit the rock wall with a soft thud. "That's going to leave a mark," she grumbled as she jumped up and ran back to the action.

"Carri!" David yelled as he ran after her. Josh muttered something under his breath as he followed.

When they caught up to her, they saw several of the birds attacking. Tommy and Carri were fighting them, while Cindy was screaming in the corner as the other two tried to protect her. "Go hide with Cindy," David said as he jumped in front of Carri and took a shot from a Tenga.

"Sure," she said rolling her eyes as she slipped past him and into the arms of some Tengas. Of course she would rather be in their hands than his. If that wasn't sad, she didn't know what was.

She slammed two together and hit two more. She saw David keep trying to get to her, but a few minutes later the fight was over.

"You don't need to fight those things they'll kill us," David said as he walked toward her.

"This is not the time nor the place for you to try and act all macho," Carri snapped. She knew what he was like. He'd done it the entire time they were together. She put up with it in New York, but here she wasn't under her mother's thumb and she would be damned if she let him act like he was the man and she was nothing but the pathetic little girl who needed him.

"She's right," Tommy agreed. He and Carri were the only ones qualified to go against the Tengas. He wasn't going to let someone try and pull her out of the fight. "Besides we need all the hands we can get if we are going to survive this."

"She's a woman, she shouldn't be fighting," David protested. He didn't know what was wrong with Carri. He thought she knew better than to put herself out there to get hurt.

Tommy immediately stepped forward and grabbed Carri's arms, pulling her far away from David. The look in her eyes said it all. She was about to show him why she was the yellow ranger. Even he felt the overwhelming urge to sock him for every female ranger who has ever held a morpher, but now wasn't the time. "Come on guys we need to keep moving," Tommy said, gently nudging Carri forward.

"Who do you think you are bossing us around and putting a hand on her?" David asked, irritated with the man who had jumped in the middle of his business earlier. "Wait, you're her boyfriend aren't you?"

"Lucky for you I'm not," Tommy replied. If he was in this situation with Kim and not Carri, he would have hit him. He could think more rationally where Carri was concerned than he ever would with his now girlfriend.

"Two male friends sticking up for you and not one boyfriend? Either you lied about having a love or you've turned into a slut," David said. If she was his girlfriend he would never let that many guys feel that comfortable around her. There was no way she had a boyfriend.

Before Carri could even protest Josh socked David in the jaw. "Don't you ever say that about my sister again," he growled. Carri had lots of guy friends growing up. David never let her have any, but to see her sister having them again now didn't faze him. It was normal for her and it did not make her a slut.

"Come on," Tommy said. One more minute with this guy and he was going to hit him. He was beginning to get what the fight he walked into in the first place was about. He turned toward the front, making sure the yellow ranger was following, and then he and Carri led the way, followed by Josh and Cindy, and finally David.

* * *

Kim hit the save button on her computer and smiled. As soon as her report finished printing she would be done. She worked overtime on this thing so she could go to the beach. She hoped Tommy was there. She was sure he would have shown up by now. It was after two and he had nothing going on at all that day. She couldn't wait to share the news with her friends. They would be so excited. They have been rooting them on since she came back.

As Kim finished stapling her pages, the communicator Billy gave her went off. She looked at it briefly, smiling at the pink markings on the side. She was surprised it was pink, after all Kat was the pink ranger, but she was still the pink Ninjetti. Pushing that thought aside she put her report down and lifted her wrist to her mouth. "What's up?"

"Kim I'm going to need your help with something. Can you teleport up here?" Billy asked.

"Sure thing," she replied. In a flash of light, she was gone.

She arrived in the Power Chamber to see Kat, Jason and Rocky standing around. Kat looked bored, Jason looked irritated, and Rocky was obviously upset. "What's going on?" she asked, immediately noting that two of the rangers were missing.

"Josh, Tommy, Carri, her friend Cindy and her ex David were all kidnapped by Lord Zedd and taken to another dimension," explained Jason. That was the gist of their day.

"Her ex?" questioned Kim, raising an eyebrow. "Why didn't she tell me her ex was in town?"

"Because you weren't around last night," Jason replied. He knew she had every intention to vent to their friend, but she was nowhere to be found and they had both gone to bed before she returned. They hoped she was with Tommy, but if she was she was trying to keep it a secret.

"I was out," she said, feeling somewhat bad that she couldn't be there for her friend last night. Then again, she was with Tommy, so Carri would have to forgive her.

"With who?" he asked, eyebrow raised as he waited for the answer.

"With one of the boys who is missing," Kim said with a frown on her face. She ignored the look Jason gave her. Instead she turned her attention toward Billy. "So what can I do to help?"

"The coordinates to the dimension that they have been taken to should...," Billy paused as a few buttons flashed, "well they are coming up now." Rocky smiled as Billy continued. "You and I will need to operate and man my dimensional traveling device so that the others can go in and rescue everyone."

Jason looked over at the blue ranger, who was obviously antsy to leave. "Do I need to remind you of the rules of being a ranger before we leave?"

"What are you talking about?" asked Rocky. He didn't know what he'd do to break any rules.

"I mean you can't go in and fight or blast or sacrifice anyone that may be evil but is really just human," Jason pointed out, silently adding that it went for him too.

Rocky smiled. The thought would have never crossed his mind. Sure he wanted to make a point, but not as a ranger. "Yeah, yeah. Is everyone ready?" he asked. They nodded. "It's morphin time!"

"Zeo ranger one, pink!"

"Zeo ranger three, blue!"

"Zeo ranger four, green!"

"Ninjetti, Crane!"

"Ninjetti, Wolf!"

With that, the rangers were gone, leaving only Alpha and Zordon in the Power Chamber as they went to rescue their friends.

* * *

After more battles than they could remember, Tommy and Carri were the first of the group to emerge in front of the exit to the maze. They were all exhausted and wanted more than anything for this to end. One glance and they realized that they still had more to deal with.

Goldar and Rito were standing off to the side, looking at a warrior in the middle. The warrior smiled. "I am here to guarantee your destruction," she said smiling, her eyes locking with the group's leader.

"Who are you?" asked Josh, glancing at her curiously.

"I am Scorpina," she said with a smile.

"A scorpion lackey? Ha. See ya," Carri said as she started to spin around and walk away.

Tommy grabbed her by the arm and spun her forward, pulling her back beside him. Now wasn't the time for that. "You don't scare us."

She laughed at the former white ranger. "You don't lie very well." With that, she jumped down from her perch and attacked the group. Carri and Tommy tried to lure her away from the others. Seeing as that was working, Goldar and Rito went down to chase the rest of the group.

Fighting Scorpina was harder than Carri had anticipated. She was strong. And Tommy made it a point to tell her to avoid her tail. She didn't know how much longer they would hold up.

Scorpina managed to back them into a corner. "You know, Lord Zedd wanted me to destroy all five rangers. It's not my fault he hired a monster too stupid to capture the right people. But then again, two is better than none," she said as she pulled something out.

"What's that?" Carri asked, referencing the glowing orb in her hands.

"I'm not sure, but I don't think we want to find out," Tommy replied, his mind racing to find a way out of this. Zordon wouldn't like it, but they may have to morph. He'd heard of doing memory wipes on civilians. If they exposed themselves perhaps Zordon would forgive them and simply remove those memories, at least from David and Cindy. He wouldn't trust them at all.

She grinned. "It's a present from Rita. I thought it would be more fun to destroy you by hand, but I think it will be just as much fun to blow you to bits and tear apart your friends." Scorpina was so excited that she didn't notice all the commotion as the rangers invaded their little party. Rocky came in and shot Scorpina from the side.

She turned towards him and Jason took the opportunity to use his Zeo power kick in her back. Scorpina went flying, her explosive device sailing out of her hand and well out of her reach. Rocky ran to check on the other two rangers. "Are you guys ok?" he asked.

"Much better now that you're here," Carri replied with a smile.

"So I imagine you have a way to get us out?" Tommy asked, grateful that the others came and they didn't have to morph.

"Just follow Kat. Jason and I will distract Rita and Zedd's goons then we'll be right behind you," Rocky said, motioning toward where the others were gathered.

Tommy and Carri turned to see that Kat and Jason were protecting the others, who were terrified about what had happened earlier. Carri squeezed Rocky's gloved hand. "Be careful."

He smiled. "Always am." Rocky ran off to help Jason distract the bad guys. Carri and Tommy ran over to join the others.

"I'm so happy you're ok," David said throwing his arms around Carri and rubbing his hands on her back.

Out of the corner of his eye, Rocky saw him. He saw the look of disgust on her face as she tried to push him away. He couldn't watch long as Goldar snapped him back to reality. But he wished that he could go over there and give him a piece of his mind.

As Carri got David off of her, she turned to the pink ranger. "K...," she started holding that first syllable out for a few seconds, "come on pink ranger the blue ranger said you could get us out of here."

Tommy tried hard not to smile. Fortunately Kat didn't have to hide it as she grinned under her helmet. "Follow me," she said as she led them around the maze.

A few minutes later they had found the portal back to Earth. "We have to go through there?" asked Cindy, quite a bit skeptical.

"Don't worry it's not dangerous," Kat assured her.

"Ladies first," Josh said sticking his hand out. If anything bad happened, he would rather have his sister free than him.

"I don't know," Cindy said. Carri sighed and grabbed her hand. Then she led both of them through at the same time. David didn't hesitate to follow. Tommy motioned for Josh to go before him. Then Tommy went through, leaving Kat there. Kat glanced over and saw the two male rangers running towards her and she jumped through.

Everyone landed on the grass and they were greeted by the pink and blue Ninjetti. Rocky and Jason were the last ones through. "Close it quick!" Rocky hollered as his feet hit the ground.

Billy hit a button and the portal before them shut. He turned to the others. "Now I believe you guys have a beach to get back to."

"Thank you for saving us," Cindy said. The others nodded their heads to say thank you as well.

"Anytime," Kim said with a nod.

Billy raised his communicator to his mouth. "Alpha I've got five people who need to be teleported back to Los Angeles."

"Will do rangers," Alpha said. A few seconds later, they were gone.

"I'd better hurry up and get back too," Jason said as he powered down and teleported to a safe spot.

"Let's take this stuff back, then we can get back to what we were doing," Billy said picking up a part of his device.

Rocky grabbed the other piece. "Sounds like a good idea to me," he said as they teleported to the Power Chamber.

* * *

"I cannot believe we failed. This plan was perfect. If your stupid monster had captured the right people, we would have had those rangers worn down and beaten and they would never have been able to defeat Scorpina. Instead, we had two worn down rangers in there, leaving three morphed rangers to find them," Zedd spoke every word with a growl.

Rita glared at him. "Why does it have to be my stupid monster? We used one of Finster's molds anyway. Finster!"

He scurried into the throne room. He would have to take the blame for the monsters lack of intelligence. He wasn't looking forward to it. "Yes?" he asked.

"Your monster failed us." Rita screeched.

Finster nodded as the reaction was expected. "I'm sorry my queen, perhaps next time"

"Perhaps next time you'll get it right," she snapped with an annoyed look on her face.

"Next time I will make the monster," Zedd said. He was a fool to let Finster handle this. He should have taken matters into his own hands.

"So what are we going to do about Scorpina?" asked Rita, her attention off of her assistant at the moment.

"We can keep her close by. I will think of another plan. She can still be useful to us," Zedd told her. Scorpina was good, there was no sense in sending her away. It wasn't her fault that the monster set her up for failure. She would have destroyed those rangers.

Rita huffed. "All that planning and for what? Nothing."

"Don't worry Rita. We will get those rangers someday," Zedd promised as he slouched in his throne and looked out over Earth.

* * *

The group of five landed back on the beach. "Are you ok?" Cory asked as he ran over and gave his girlfriend a hug. He had been worried sick about her.

She nodded as a wave of relief swept over to her. "It was so scary. But the power rangers saved us."

Jason jogged back over to the group. "You guys are back." He didn't bother to try to sound relieved. He had no doubts they'd get them back in one piece. After all he was part of the team doing the rescuing.

"Yeah. We made it," Tommy said, not quite sure how to play the relieved civilian.

"That had to have been the worst thing ever," Amanda said, glancing over at Paul who nodded.

"It was pretty close," David agreed as he put an arm around Carri.

The yellow ranger shrugged him off as her brother stepped forward and glared at him. "Which reminds me we were in the middle of something before we left."

"Yeah, we were," David said and with a smile he hit Josh. Josh fell backwards not expecting the punch. He stood up and glared at David. Tommy and Jason walked over to Josh and pulled him up, standing firmly beside him. At the same time, Cory and Paul immediately went to David.

"You guys don't have to do this. We can all be friends," Amanda said as Cindy nodded her head in agreement. If these stupid California boys would just leave them alone, it would be fine.

"I think it's too late for us to be friends," Josh said. Besides, they were never friends. Even when his sister dated David he didn't think she was truly friends with them.

The boys started to argue. Carri tried to get in the middle of it, after all it was essentially about her, but they butted her out of the picture. With a sigh she walked off. Jason and Tommy fighting with her brother against David was not what she wanted. She just wanted Josh to make the problem go away. It was obvious that this was going to blow up in her face. She was three seconds away from saying to hell with her mother and the consequences and settling this herself.

Before she could come to that decision, she felt a hand on her back. She turned to see David standing there. He had stormed off from the others, and they had yet to realize where he stormed off too. "Can't we talk this through?" he asked.

"There's nothing to talk about. I don't love you. I never loved you," she hissed. Her mind was made up. She was going to end this.

"How can you say that after all we went through together?" She had to be lying. Someone here had to put her up to that.

"Everything I did in New York wasn't real to me. It wasn't who I was. It was who my mom set me up to be." He never knew Carri, the real Carri, he knew the persona she created to keep herself out of an all-girls boarding school.

His eyebrows raised in disbelief. "Even me?"

"Especially you," she said, hoping he'd get the message and it wouldn't escalate. "The whole us thing didn't have one leg to stand on."

"What the hell are you talking about?" he exploded. It didn't make sense to him. They were perfect, everyone knew it. "We were perfect for each other. We still are. Why do you think we got together in the first place?"

"Because it fit the mold," she snapped. She was the cheerleader, he was the football player. It was expected.

He made a face. She wasn't making any sense to him. "I know that you said we couldn't work because of the long distance thing. But we are older now. We can make it work. Hell you can come back home where you belong."

Her fingers curled into fists by her side. She was trying damn hard not to hit him, but it was getting close. "This is my home. Why don't you take your friends and get the hell off my beach."

He grabbed her hard and pulled her into him. "You don't mean that," he said as he tried to give her a kiss.

He surprised her for a second, and she was slow to react. She grabbed his arm and twisted causing him to back away from her face for a second and let her arm go. However before she got the chance to punch him, someone beat her to it. "Leave her alone," a voice said as David fell back to the sand.

Carri looked toward the source of the punch and saw Rocky standing there. She never even saw him approach, but she was thrilled to see him. "David meet my boyfriend. The man that I do love."

Rocky put an arm around her and looked down at him. "Don't you ever lay another hand on her again," he said, hoping that his actions were enough to permanently deter him.

As he spoke the other boys approached them. Josh saw David on the sand trying to get up. Before his friends could get over there, he kicked him in the stomach and David fell back down. Josh pushed him on his back and knelt down over him. "If I ever get word that you tried to go after my sister again, through her or my parents, I will come after you. And believe me when I say you don't want that," he threatened. He couldn't keep David away from his parents, not when their mothers were friends, but he could get him to back off of his sister.

David slowly stood up as he scooted back towards his friends. He glared at Josh. "This isn't finished."

"What are you going to do? Come after me?" Josh asked with a smirk on his face. He had enough friends and enough resources he could make David's life hell and the other man knew it.

David scowled as Josh backed up. He pulled himself up and glared at the other man. He still wanted Carri, there was no doubt about that. However he didn't want to cross Josh. If it came down to it, in the end Josh would be able to get more people to stand on his side. It wasn't worth it. He said nothing as he turned and collected his friends, then left.

Carri let out a sigh of relief. "I'm so sorry you guys for involving you in this. I mean he was my problem I just"

"Hey we're like family right?" Jason asked cutting her off. She was like his sister, and he would have socked the man yesterday if she would have allowed it.

Carri nodded and Tommy continued. "And what's family for?"

She smiled. "Days like these." She turned to Rocky. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. I mean I should have told you, but he is my problem and I didn't want you to get involved, I didn't want you to get into a fight."

"Don't worry Jason explained everything," Rocky said as he gave her a kiss. "I would have liked to have taken care of your problem earlier but it's ok."

"I just... I didn't want him to say anything to my parents that's all." There was more to it than that, but she wasn't going to share everything right now.

"Don't worry about that. It won't be hard for me to find out if he were to say something. I don't think he will though. I think I scare him," Josh said with a smile. He knew she didn't want their mother reacting, or over reacting, and making her life hell. He'd do the best he could from his end, but he had a feeling all would remain quiet.

"Hey guys!" Kim hollered as she ran over and threw her arms around Tommy, giving him a kiss. She was so glad to see him for a moment she forgot not everyone knew they were dating.

Jason's eyes immediately shot to the yellow rangers and the two of them grinned. Jason cleared his throat, and Tommy looked away from Kim long enough to smile at him. "Oh yeah. I almost forgot to tell you. Me and Kim went out last night."

"So you two are...," Jason let his voice trailed off as he made hand gestures. He suspected it last night, he just wanted the conformation. Not that the kiss didn't give it away.

Kim smiled. "Uh-huh."

"Congrats you guys," Rocky said.

Carri simply grinned at her best friend. They locked eyes and made a silent exchange. The two had a lot to catch up on that night. Who knew one day could bring so much action?

"So are we going to play or what?" Josh asked picking the ball up from where it had been dropped earlier.

"Oh but of course," Carri replied. She was ready to really play, not play with someone constantly over her shoulder. "Come on Rocky, you're with me. You too Josh. We can take out those three over there."

"Sounds like a challenge," Tommy said smiling and grabbing Kim's hand.

"Well I never refuse a challenge," Jason replied. The three jogged after the others as they went for a fun afternoon in the sun.

* * *

The rest of the week went by peacefully. They all played volleyball the rest of the afternoon on Tuesday. Eventually Josh's friends came by, wanting to collect him to see the LA nightlife. Josh said his goodbyes and took off. The rest of the group went out that night. Wednesday and Thursday was a hodgepodge of activities among different groups. Friday night the entire group went out for one huge outing one last time before Zack and Trini left.

Saturday morning brought the departure of old friends. They all met in Billy's apartment to say goodbye before Billy drove the two original rangers to LAX.

"I wish we could stay longer," Zack said. He had an amazing time back home. However he was looking forward to getting back to his new job.

"Me too," Jason said as he hugged his old friend.

"Next time we get the opportunity, we will have to fly home so we can see everybody again," said Trini. They didn't get back home enough. That was going to have to change. The others agreed with her.

After a few more minutes of saying goodbyes, Billy looked at his watch and motioned towards the door. "If we don't take off soon, we'll never make it in time."

Trini looked up at him. "Ok," she said squeezing his hand. The others smiled as they looked at Trini and Billy. It was nice to see that Billy was happy again. He claimed to be happy on Aquitar, but they knew that Trini made him happier than anything there ever did.

Billy led the way out the door. He climbed into the driver's seat of his car. Zack scooted in the back to let the two lovebirds sit next to each other. They arrived at the airport a little faster than Billy had anticipated. After they had checked in, Zack started walking towards the gate.

"I'm going to give you guys some time. It was good to see you Billy," he said, flashing the duo a huge smile.

"It was good to see you too," Billy replied, saying a quick goodbye to Zack before his friend walked off.

Zack smiled and left. Once he disappeared, Billy looked down at Trini. "So this is it?"

"Don't say it like that Billy. I may be thousands of miles away but that doesn't mean that we won't ever see each other again," she replied. She was already thinking about the vacations she would take in the future.

"I guess you're right." It still didn't mean he would be happy about it. He finally found a woman to be happy with and he couldn't spend time with her like he wanted.

She smiled and gave his hand a quick squeeze. "We can send each other letters. And don't forget about this invention called the internet."

That got a smile out of Billy. "I know. We'll stay in contact."

"And you can come visit," Trini pointed out. "They can live without you here for a few days. They have before. Besides, you have these if they need you," she said as she placed her hand on top of his communicator. She knew he wanted to stay by his friends to help, but they could work it out.

"True." He paused for a second. "Maybe you can come back here some."

"Maybe," she replied with a nod.

"We will make this work," he said, sounding quite sure of himself despite the worries he had.

She smiled and nodded. "I know we will."

Billy smiled back not sure of how to phrase what he wanted to say. "You... you make me feel so special. So wanted."

"I feel the same way when I'm with you. Nobody knows me like you do Billy. We've been friends for so long," her voice trailed off. Even when they were kids she had a connection with Billy. It just took them this long to do anything about it.

"Nobody ever understood me like you do." She understood him as a person, a ranger, a scientist… he could never find that anywhere on Earth or Aquitar.

"I love you Billy," Trini said softly, her eyes meeting his.

Billy started to blush. It was the first time she had said that. "I love you too." He then wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to give her a kiss. He was going to miss having her here with him, but at least he had her.

They pulled away and gazed into each other's eyes for a moment. "I need to get over there," Trini said. She couldn't miss her flight no matter how much she might want to stay.

"What's the worst that could happen?" asked Billy, his face brightening up.

Trini laughed. "I would have to stay here with you."

"And?"

"Billy," she said with a grin. They both knew she couldn't stay, not now anyway.

"I know," he replied. He gave her one last kiss. As they parted, he squeezed her hand. He watched as she walked over to her gate and boarded the plane. For the first time in his life, Billy was really, truly happy. He could not wait to see what the future would bring for him.


	22. An Angel No More

**Disclaimer:** The Power Rangers belong to Saban. Buffy and friends belong to Joss Whedon. Everybody else belongs to me.  
**Authors Notes:** Another new chapter up quickly :) Next new chapter? Next week!  
Nah. April Fools... Lame I know but I have no other pranks lined up and I had to go for something lol. But I hope you all are having a fun April Fools and remember - pranks are fun but be smart and don't let anyone get seriously injured for a joke.  
Thank you for continuing to read the chapters. And look for the next Dark Inheritance either this month or next and the next Ranger Scrolls soon after :)  
One more thing - I have had some trouble posting this chapter so please let me know if the formatting is off.

Ranger Scrolls  
"An Angel No More"

Kim curled up next to Tommy as they watched the sunset. She felt a rush of cold air come across her from over the ocean. It felt nice though. This had been an unusually hot April day. Tommy felt her shudder and wrapped both arms around her. "It's not as beautiful as you are," he said, referring to the sunset they were taking in.

She smiled and leaned further into him. "You're just saying that."

"Of course not," he assured her as he leaned in and gave her a kiss.

Kim put a hand behind her back and brushed her fingers against the basket Tommy brought. She grinned as she readjusted herself and put her head on Tommy's shoulder. It had been a wonderfully romantic evening. Tommy had surprised her. He pulled her right out of her apartment that night and brought her here. He cooked her dinner and brought her flowers. She had almost forgotten how he could be so spontaneously romantic.

Tommy ran his fingers through her hair. It had been a little over a month since they had gotten back together, and it had by far been the best month of his life. He never thought he would have any of these opportunities again. He thought she had been lost to him forever. Until the trip to Florida, where she made it clear she still had feelings for him. His heart that was once been broken had finally felt like it was starting to mend. Even all that happened between himself and Kat that year couldn't fix what happened with Kim.

The sun finally disappeared over the horizon. Nighttime was starting to settle in. Tommy reached down and brushed a stray hair out of Kim's face. "I've been thinking," he started.

"Tommy it's never a good sign when you've been thinking," Kim teased as she looked up at him.

Tommy grinned at her and she smiled back. "This is good. I promise."

"Then tell me what it is that you've been thinking about."

"I've been thinking maybe we should get away for a weekend," Tommy said, leaning her back just a bit so he could see her reaction.

Kim thought about it. She'd love to go away with Tommy, but there was so much going on. "I don't know Tommy. I mean finals are just around the corner."

"After that." She wasn't the only one who was going to have to crack down for finals week.

She sat up and looked at him when she realized he was dead serious. "Tommy you know I'd love to, but we can't. What if they need us? What if they need you?"

"Well... I mean I know that is more important than anything. But that's what these are for," he said as he pointed to his communicator. "Besides, they all want to get away too. Maybe if we can take a small vacation, and it works out, the others will take time off that they've been longing for," he said trying to convince her that it was a good idea. He heard more than once from Rocky and Jason that they'd like to take their girlfriends somewhere for vacation this summer.

"Define works out?"

"I mean that I don't spend every waking moment teleporting home because of a threat. Yeah there might be something that they need all five of us to handle. But it's not like Zedd's going to send down a pig monster or something else stupid and they're not going to know what to do. They're all experienced, and they're all worthy. If they weren't, they wouldn't be rangers in the first place." Carri was the rookie of the team, and she has almost two years under her belt. He wasn't worried about his teammates.

"I guess you're right. But the Tommy Oliver I know can't leave home without worrying about it." When they were together before, the few times he'd tried to leave he couldn't take his mind off of his hometown.

"Well maybe if you can keep me distracted I won't have any time left to worry," the red ranger replied, a mischievous grin crossing his face.

Kim grinned back. She could think of lots of ways to keep the man of her dreams distracted. "I think I could handle that."

"So does that mean you'd be interested?" he asked hopefully.

"Of course I would. It would be nice to experience another town that isn't LA or Angel Grove," Kim replied. Not that she didn't love where she lived, but everyone enjoyed a change of scenery.

"Then I'll look into it," he said as he looked down into her eyes. "And I promise we will have a fabulous time and that I won't worry about them unless they need me."

"It's a deal," Kim said as she leaned up and kissed him. As Kim broke apart a sudden gust of cold wind caused her to shiver.

"Looks like the temperature is getting ready to drop. Why don't we go back to my dorm," Tommy suggested

"It's so cramped in there. Why don't we go to my place?" asked Kim. Tommy's dorm was nice but tiny. She loved her apartment and loved spending time there.

"Someone is likely to be there. I know for a fact Rocky's going to be gone for a while," he told her. "If you come back with me we can get some more quality alone time."

Kim smiled. She enjoyed quality alone time with Tommy. "Let's go," she said as she hopped up. She quickly helped Tommy clean up their mess from dinner and the two took off.

* * *

Miles away from the beaches of Los Angeles, a man rubbed his hands together and smiled. "It's almost ready," he said turning toward his companion.

The bleach blonde man in the wheelchair rolled up to him. "Yes but we are missing one thing." He was starting to get aggravated with the plan. He wasn't sure how they were going to make it work.

Angelus sighed. "Don't you think I haven't thought of that?" Just because Spike was confined to a wheelchair didn't mean he stayed in one spot twenty four seven as well. He had a plan.

"Our people could take weeks, even months searching for it," Spike pointed out. It was worse than searching for a needle in a haystack.

Drusilla smiled as she put a hand on Spike's head. "Don't be such a pessimist darling." She happened to like Angelus's plan.

"No, Dru, Spike's right. It could take months for them to find it," Angelus agreed, watching as the other vampire looked slightly satisfied.

Spike smiled triumphantly. "So what are you going to do about it?" he asked, thinking that he would have no good answer. He hoped that Angelus would never find what he was looking for. If he did, well, it wouldn't be long before he was ready to destroy the world.

"Actually we know someone who might have the key to finding it," Angelus said with a smile.

"Who might that be?" asked Spike. He couldn't think of anyone he knew who would willingly give up the information.

"Lord Zedd." Angelus had a certain triumphant look of his own as he spoke.

"Bloody hell," Spike sighed as he put a hand to his forehead. "What makes you think he'll help you? After all, last time we saw each other we were busy telling each other to go to hell." Besides that, Zedd wanted to rule the world and Angelus wanted to destroy it. If Zedd put the pieces together he'd probably stake Angelus where he stood. Which may not be a bad thing.

Angelus chuckled as he shook his head. "Spike, how soon you forget. You and Zedd may not get along. But he and I, well that's a different story."

While Spike agreed, he knew Zedd, he didn't think he'd just hand over information. "Even if he does talk to you, why would he give you what you need?"

"Simple. I'll give him a ranger in exchange for the information. What he does with the ranger... well that's totally up to him." He was always a fan of torture. Perhaps he could share some of his favorite techniques with the demon.

Spike rolled his eyes. "And how do you suppose you'll do that? They've got more sense than to let you in."

Angelus laughed. "You've forgotten. Angel was friends with some of the rangers. That was his weak spot you know. Making friends with heroes."

Spike gave him a look. "You don't think the slayer has told her friends about you?"

"Knowing Buffy, she was too worried about everything and too embarrassed about what happened to give an old friend a heads up." His ex-girlfriend still hadn't come to terms with what happened. He doubted the thought even crossed her mind to tell the rangers to steer clear of him.

"So which one are you going to capture?" asked Drusilla. It would be delightful if he brought home the yellow one. She never liked her one bit.

"I have an idea," Angelus smiled as he walked off to get the car. It was time for him to make a trip to Los Angeles.

* * *

Kat sighed as she walked across the lawn. She thought she would have a fabulous day when she found out her last class was cancelled. However thanks to her art history professor, she was wrong. Not that she didn't like the class, she really enjoyed looking at art. However she didn't think she enjoyed it enough to write a five page paper on one piece in two days. Not to mention, as soon as she walked out of the building the rain started pouring and she had forgotten her umbrella.

"Something wrong?" Chris asked as he caught up to her.

The pink ranger was startled at first, and when her heart rate calmed down she answered. "Wrong? Not really wrong. Just a bad day. That's all."

"Wanna talk about it over lunch?" She didn't really need to answer the question. Anytime they were free they ate lunch together.

"Sure," she said piping up. Food with her favorite person might do her some good.

They walked into the school cafeteria together. They took a few minutes to discuss which line they wanted to get into. After they choose, they ordered and paid, walking back out into the seating area. They scanned for an empty table, but couldn't find one. Kat smiled when she noticed a place they could sit. "Mind if we join you?" she asked two brunettes.

"Not at all," Carri said smiling at her cousin. They had plenty of room at the table, even if it was for Chris.

Mollie quickly hopped to the other side of the table so Chris and Kat could sit next to each other. Chris noticed the blatantly obvious move, and he smiled at his ex-girlfriend."You didn't have to move."

"That's alright," Mollie replied. Of course she had to move. She certainly didn't want to sit next to him. It was still kind of awkward.

"Well look who I found," Rocky said dropping a tray down at the end of the table and pulling up a chair. "What happened to, we don't like eating in the cafeteria because the food sucks?"

The girls giggled. "It's called rain," Carri explained. She and Mollie never ate in the cafeteria. They hopped off of campus most of the time, but today it was pouring and they didn't feel like leaving.

Mollie pointed to her head. "It messes with the hair."

"Whatever," Rocky said with a smile. He liked having them there, it was nice to eat lunch with his girlfriend. "Besides, you still have to walk home."

"Don't forget that once home, I can fix said hair. And get out of my wet clothes."

Rocky grinned. "Need help?"

Mollie and Carri laughed as a blush crept into Kat's cheeks at what her cousin's boyfriend was insinuating. Rocky and Chris simply smiled. "So how has everyone's day been?" Rocky asked.

"Not so great," Kat said.

"Boring," replied Mollie and Carri echoed.

"Well speak for yourselves girls. I had a great day," Chris said. He loved his classes and was having a blast this semester.

Kat rolled her eyes. "We can't all take intro to golf." She thought it was a silly waste of time but he was having fun. In the end though they still had a year before they had to get serious about a major, so taking wasted classes couldn't hurt.

"Why yes, yes you can," Chris replied. He tried to get Kat to take a fluff class, like the philosophy class about Disney princesses, but she refused saying it wouldn't help her in the long run.

"Ha something else for me to excel at," Carri said sarcastically. She was taking a bunch of classes to get her basic graduation credits out of the way. She wanted to take an easy class but that wouldn't be it. "When they start an intro to baseball class, sign me up."

"How about intro to the hot naked guys on the beach class. That one I can ace," Mollie said as she raised an eyebrow and looked at her friend.

"Here here," Carri agreed, locking eyes with her and smiling.

"Hey!" Rocky exclaimed, although he wasn't particularly bothered by the joke.

"You can have your hot fully clothed women in the library class," Carri replied with a dismissive wave of her hand. Mollie burst out laughing.

Rocky raised an eyebrow. "Oh I see how it is."

His girlfriend smiled as she reached under the table and squeezed the top of his leg. He reached under and put a hand on top of hers. They smiled at each other before turning back to the rest of their table. The group continued conversation for about forty-five minutes before Rocky noticed the time. "I hate to cut this short, but I have to get to class."

"Ok. See you later?" Carri asked. He usually stopped by her apartment after class assuming he didn't have any papers or anything to work on.

"Absolutely," Rocky replied as he leaned down and gave her a kiss. The others said goodbye as he picked his tray up, pushed the chair back, and took off.

Mollie and Carri glanced out the window. The rain had slowed down quite a bit. "This may be our only chance. We might have to make a run for it."

"That's a long run," Carri said as she thought about the distance back to her apartment.

Kat smiled at her. "You should have stayed in your dorm." She thought it was silly to spend money on an apartment. Then again she didn't have a horrible roommate and a father willing to foot the bill.

"Hell hasn't frozen over yet," she replied with a smile. Now that she was settled into the apartment she wasn't leaving until graduation. She was fairly certain her roommates would agree.

Mollie and Carri stood up and said their goodbyes. Then they threw their trash away, stepped outside the cafeteria doors, and took off running in separate directions.

"I guess that leaves us," Chris said. Which was fine by him, that was the way he liked it. Her friends seemed nice and all, but he wasn't sure if they liked him and he had more fun with Kat when they were alone.

"I guess it does," Kat replied with a smile.

He raised an eyebrow and looked at her. "Wanna get out of here?"

"Sounds like a plan," she replied. With that, the two left the cafeteria and headed out.

* * *

Carri ran into her apartment and shut the door behind her. She immediately went into the bathroom and looked into the mirror and frowned. She hadn't gotten drenched but she still looked like a wet mop.

She was trying to fix her hair when she heard a knock at the door. With a sigh she gave up on her hair and went out to answer the door. She couldn't fathom who it might be. Tommy and Rocky were the only ones that came by without keys and usually they let themselves in. She swung open the door and her jaw opened in surprise. "Angel."

She opened the door and stood back. He looked at the doorway, waiting for an invitation. "Oh, of course, come in," she said, forgetting for a moment how one had to accommodate a vampire.

He smiled. He was right, of course. They had no idea what happened.

"What's going on?" she asked as he walked into her apartment.

"It's Buffy. She needs your help," Angelus lied. They were friends, she had jumped into battle for the slayer before. It should work again.

"Why didn't she call? She did last time and"

Angelus cut her off. He didn't have time to make up lies to answer her questions. "She couldn't. She's in a lot of trouble. You need to come now."

Carri stood there looking at him. Something was off about this, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. "I don't understand what kind of trouble."

He sighed. He was tired of thinking of things to say. If she wasn't going to make this easy, he would make it hard. "Actually I'm the trouble."

"What?" she questioned, her muscles tensing up.

Angelus vamped out as he grabbed her by the throat and slammed her against the wall. "You see, I'm trying to destroy the world. And I can't do that without acquiring a few things first. One of those things, well we are just having trouble finding. The only way to find it quickly is to get information. The only one with information is Lord Zedd. So I figured the best way to get him to help me is to offer a ranger sacrifice."

"But Angel, I don't understand," she said each word getting harder to speak.

"Angel is dead," he said gripping her tighter. "Angel was a weakling. He had a soul. Search all you want but you won't find one of those inside of Angelus."

Carri started to panic. With each passing second breathing was getting more difficult. She thought quickly. Maybe she could teleport herself out. Of course he would still be with her. But that might be alright. There would be no wall behind her, and Billy and Alpha could help. She took her right hand and reached for her communicator.

"I don't think so," Angelus said. With his vampire strength he grabbed her hand, and while crushing the bones he twisted her wrist hard enough to snap it, leaving the hand deformed.

She cried out in pain and Angelus dropped her to the floor. She couldn't have more than a few seconds before he took her with him. Trying to think fast she started looking around. That's when she saw something on the floor beside the couch. It was an old lava lamp that they were playing with. They were trying to get it to work and once they gave up, they sat it down on the floor and forgot about it. Carri wasn't left handed but she knew she would have to learn quickly as she couldn't move her right. She picked it up rather awkwardly, and slammed it over Angelus's head. He winced and took a few steps back. Carri tried to get away, but she didn't get far before Angelus threw her across the apartment. As she landed, she smashed her head on the back of the bar at the kitchen counter.

Carri could feel the dizziness start to take over. She had hit her head hard. She knew if she blacked out now all hope was lost. She used the bar to pull herself up with one hand. Peering over the kitchen counter, she saw the knife block. She grabbed the sharpest knife she had and waved it at him.

Angelus laughed. "What are you going to do with that? You can't kill me." By the looks of her she was going to pass out if she even tried.

She smiled at him. "No. But I can cause you enough pain to give myself a chance to escape."

Angelus thought about that for a moment. He was wondering how he was going to approach her, but he quit worrying about it when his demon senses kicked in. He smiled and turned to the door. He didn't give Kim much time to get through it before he slammed her head against the wall, rendering her unconscious. He threw her communicator to the floor and picked up her lifeless body. "She'll do," he said as he left.

"Kim!" Carri yelled. She took a step to go after her, but that was all the movement her head could handle as she collapsed to the floor.

* * *

Rocky walked up the stairs of Carri's apartment building after class. He was going to meet up with her and Kim, and then whenever Tommy got through with his class they were all going to go out. He got let out of class a little early that day, and he was hoping to catch Carri alone for a bit.

He cracked open the door to their apartment and looked around. The first thing he saw was a pink communicator on the floor. He picked it up and he started to get a little concerned. As he opened the door a little wider he saw a lava lamp lying out on the carpet. He walked in the door and turned to his right and that's when he saw her. He ran to her side and put an arm around her back, lifting her head off the ground. He brushed a few stray strands of hair off her face. "Carri? Carri can you hear me?"

She moved ever so slightly. She could hear his voice. She smiled as she started to open her eyes. She was starting to make him out. She wanted to sit up, so she took her right hand and placed it on his knee, and started to push. Suddenly she was snapped back into reality as her eyes flung open and she screamed in pain.

"What's wrong?" Rocky asked as she pulled her right arm to her chest and put her left arm protectively around it, with the knife still in hand. Rocky gently took the knife away from her and set it on the floor. He pried the left arm away, but he didn't need to as just a glance of the right told the story. He took her arm and placed the deformed looking hand on top of his. "What happened? Who did this to you?"

Carri paused before answering. She was trying to slow her breathing down after that shock she just went through with her hand. "Angel... Angelus..."

"I don't understand," Rocky said, wondering if she was referring to the vampire. He was Buffy's boyfriend though, he wouldn't hurt her.

"Buffy's Angel... he's... he's evil. And he took Kim," She paused for a moment as her eyes grew wide. "He took Kim. That's my fault. He came for me and I stood up to him and then I couldn't chase after him and"

"Shhh," Rocky hushed her as he pulled her in close and gave her a hug. "Come on let's get to the Power Chamber. We'll have Billy take a look at that hand and we'll figure out how we're going to rescue Kim."

Carri nodded. Rocky helped her to her feet. Then he hit a button on his communicator and they both disappeared.

Billy was standing by one of the control panels looking at some data when a blue and yellow streak started to materialize before him. "What's up guys?" Billy asked as they appeared. One look at the duo was all it took to realize that this was far from a social visit.

"Can you fix it?" Rocky asked holding out her arm and showing Billy what happened.

Billy walked toward her and gasped. He knew it was bad. He thought he had a medical device that he brought back from Aquitar that could put most of the bones back in place, but not all. "I don't think I can heal it completely. Not right away. I can get most of the bones back where they were. But you need to know, it's going to hurt, a lot."

"Well it can't get much worse than it is now," Carri replied. She couldn't even bare the pain of twitching a finger at the moment.

"Here," Billy walked her over and made her have a seat by one of the medical beds. "I'll be right back."

Billy took off. Zordon looked at his teens. "What happened rangers?"

"Angelus came. I thought he was Angel. I let him in. Turns out he was Angel minus the soul. He told me he had come to LA to kidnap a ranger to offer to Zedd in exchange for information. I tried to get away from him. I thought I had a chance, when Kim came in. He took her and left me there."

"We need to get in contact with Buffy and find out what is going on before we can create a plan of action," Zordon said. If they were simply dealing with Lord Zedd it would be simple, but with Angelus involved they had to speak with the slayer.

"I can do that. Rocky, can you get my phone for me?" she asked as she looked up at her boyfriend.

Rocky nodded and teleported out. He got to her apartment and searched through her backpack until he found it. A few moments later he returned. Billy and Alpha were standing by Carri and her arm was in some sort of machine. He could see the look of pain on her face as they slowly started to work on it. Rocky went over and put the phone in her left hand. "Has anyone told the others?" he asked.

Carri shook her head no. She looked down at her phone for the time. It was only three-fifteen. Rocky's class must have ended early. "The boys will be out in five minutes. Wait until then. It's not like we can do anything about it just yet. You can let Kat know though."

Rocky nodded as he went to alert her. Carri flipped through her contact list. She was getting ready to call Buffy's house when it occurred to her that Buffy was probably not at home. She flipped through the contact list until she came up with the number to Buffy's high school, a number she had stuck in there after her last encounter with vampires.

She hit send and it wasn't long before someone picked up. "Sunnydale High how can I help you?"

"I need to speak to the librarian," she replied.

"Hold please."

There was some background noise and then silence before the rings kicked in. Then an accented English voice picked up. "Hello?"

"Giles?" she questioned, recognizing the man who answered.

"Yes. And who might I be speaking to?" Giles asked, not used to getting phone calls.

"This is Carri. Carri Hillard."

"Yes, yes of course," he replied. He couldn't forget Buffy's friend who had saved their lives last time they saw her. He hated that she was calling him. That could not be a good sign. "What can I help you with?"

"I need to get a hold of Buffy. Is she there?" Carri said, getting straight to the point of her call. There was no time for social pleasantries at the moment.

"Hold on a second," Giles said putting a hand over the receiver. She could hear a muffled voice telling Buffy that she was on the phone.

As the muffled sound started to clear, Billy did something with her hand that hurt worse than anything he had been doing before and she yelled.

"What's going on? Are you ok?" Buffy asked as she picked up the phone and heard her friend screaming. In her line of work that was never good.

"Oh I'm fine. I'm just sitting here with Billy. He's trying to put some of the crushed bones in my hand back into place so it's not as deformed looking. That was a nice little present from your ex-boyfriend." There was a hint of bitterness in her voice. Buffy was her friend, she should have given her a heads up.

Buffy was stunned. She didn't know what to say. "Carri I'm"

"Sorry?" she snapped. "Your boyfriend went all evil on you and you didn't even bother to tell me so I let him into my home. He attacked me and kidnapped my friend."

"I never thought... he had no reason to come there," Buffy said. She could feel tears forming in her eyes. He had caused her and her friends in Sunnydale enough pain without him having to spread it around.

Carri could sense the sadness in her friend's voice. Perhaps she was throwing a bit more venom at the slayer than she should given she didn't know the situation. Still a heads up would have been nice. "Apparently Zedd has some information he needed and he wanted a ranger sacrifice. He came after me, but he got Kim instead."

"I will make this right," Buffy promised. She felt guilty about the whole thing but she could fix it. "Can you teleport Willow there?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Willow can do a reverse invite spell in your home. That way he can't come in again without being invited. And if he came there, that means he drove. Which means he probably brought your friend here. I have an idea where. I'll find her I promise." It was the least she could do.

"Do you need any help?" Carri asked. There were five Zeo rangers who wouldn't hesitate to go after Angelus.

"I'll let you know," Buffy replied. She didn't think she would, she was the slayer. Besides this was her mess and she was going to fix it. "Just give me a few minutes to talk to Willow then you can teleport her."

"Alright," Carri agreed. The girls hung up as Carri shrieked again. A few moments later, Billy took her hand out and laid it aside.

"Don't move that hand. I'll be right back," Billy said as he walked off.

Carri nodded. She looked over and saw Rocky and Kat standing there. "Rocky filled me in on everything. What are we going to do?"

"First, Alpha I need you to get a lock on Willow Rosenberg. She's in the Sunnydale High library. Give her a minute, then teleport her here," Carri handed out orders. Alpha nodded in agreement as he walked over to the console. "As for Kim, Buffy thinks she can find her. She's going to call us and let us know if we can help."

Billy came back out with some sort of brace and put Carri's hand in it. Her fingers were exposed, but she couldn't move them or her wrist. "That should help. You're going to have to wear that for a day or two. By then it should be almost healed, and the swelling and bruising should have gone away. But I don't want you to morph. Not unless it's an absolute emergency."

"Why not?" Carri asked. "Won't moprhing finish healing it?" That worked for pretty much everything.

"Your wrist, yes. I put it back like it was supposed to be. I'm concerned about the bones in your hand. The main ones are back together, but there are so many fragments. Morphing does a quick fix. A broken bone, it can snap back together and heal. But if it tries to heal your hand too quickly, well it's possible that it will get it right. But it's also possible that it will happen so quickly that the bone fragments will get misplaced, and that will do some serious damage to that hand. The only way to fix it will be to shatter the bones again."

"But what if they need me?" she asked. She didn't care if they had to shatter it again, she wasn't going to leave her teammates a man down.

"I will alert Trey, and take care of your zord. The ranger healing will still speed up the process greatly, just not to the point where it's not done properly. I'd be surprised if it wasn't healed within the next two days."

She nodded. She didn't want to sit anything out though. She owed someone some revenge. Rocky looked at her. He felt bad, but there was nothing he could do. He looked down at his watch. "I'm going to let the guys know," he said, anxious for something to do.

Rocky walked off as a flash of white light entered the Power Chamber. "That was nifty," Willow said with a smile as she appeared with her bag of goodies in hand. She looked around. Xander had told her that they really were spandex wearing heroes, but she didn't completely believe him until now.

A few seconds later Tommy teleported in. Rocky was still trying to get a hold of Jason. Tommy looked around, trying to take everything in. "What the hell is going on here?" he said mainly referencing Willow.

Carri slid off of the stool she was sitting on and walked over to Tommy. She frowned. She still felt responsible. There should have been something she could've done. "It's my fault," she said placing her right hand on her chest.

Tommy looked at the brace curiously. "What's your fault?"

"I," she sighed as she saw the flash of green light out of the corner of her eye. "Angel"

"Angelus," Willow piped up from behind. When Tommy shot her a look she explained herself. "I mean, that's what he goes by without a soul."

"Angelus came to the apartment. He was looking for a ranger sacrifice. He attacked me - he must have thought since I was friends with Buffy he could get to me easier because I would trust him. He would have, he should have taken me with him, but somehow I got away. We got into a standoff. I was trying to figure out what to do. That's when Kim came home. He knocked her out and he took her instead. I tried to go after them, but the knock on the head he gave me wouldn't let me go anywhere but the floor." She felt guilty as hell. Kim was her best friend. She should have been able to help her. Yet she let her get captured. She wouldn't blame Tommy if he was furious with her.

Tommy's eyes were wide with disbelief. "Where did he take her? What is he going to do with her?"

"I'm not sure. Buffy thinks she might know," she paused and frowned before continuing, "I'm so sorry Tommy. This is my fault I should have been able to do something to stop him. I should have let him take me. I"

"It's not your fault," Tommy assured her as he put a hand on her shoulder. He got carrying the responsibility around but she didn't need to do that.

"He's right," added Jason. "Don't worry, we'll get Kim back," he said more for Tommy than anybody. He was ready to kick Angelus's ass. He came in to his apartment and attacked his sisters. That didn't sit well with him.

Tommy wasn't planning on anything less. Angelus picked the wrong girl to mess with. He would save her, then after that he was planning on ripping that vampire apart limb from limb.

Rocky came over and put an arm around Carri. "Maybe we should take Willow to your apartment and let her do that spell."

Carri nodded. She turned to Willow. "Are you ready?"

"Yup. I'll keep him out for you," she assured them, then the three of them teleported off.

"So what do we do now Zordon?" asked Tommy as he looked up at their mentor.

"We must wait for Buffy to call back," Zordon replied. He knew that wasn't going to be a popular answer, but they weren't left with much of a choice.

"Wait? Who knows what he's doing to Kim. We can't wait," Tommy said, anxious to get the rescue underway.

"Tommy, Rocky said that Angelus was going to trade Kim to Zedd for a secret. He probably took her back to Sunnydale. Which means he would still have to contact Zedd. And he's not going to hurt her. She won't do any good to him that way," Kat said trying to console Tommy, something that oddly still seemed natural for her. She didn't love him anymore, but she supposed she would always have a connection there.

"She's no good to him dead. I'm sure he has no problem with hurt," Tommy snapped. The thought that they could do something to her infuriated him.

Kat sighed. There was going to be no reasoning with Tommy until he had Kim back and had torn apart the evil that did this.

* * *

Angelus dumped Kim's body in the floor in a back room. He double checked to make sure the chains were still holding her hands apart. He was frustrated, it had taken him forever to make it back to Sunnydale. Sometimes those vampire safe windows weren't the best for driving.

Drusilla and Spike came in to have a look."Is she even a real ranger?" Spike asked as he glared at her. He'd seen all five rangers unmorphed. There were two females, the one he captured and the blonde. This girl was neither.

"She's one of those Ninjetti rangers and I've been told that she once was involved with one of the rangers. Plus she's their close friend and she used to be a full-fledged ranger. So trust me, she'll do," Angelus explained. He had a feeling the rangers would do anything for this girl. Zedd would be happy to have her.

"She's starting to move," Drusilla said as she watched her stir. She almost hoped the deal with Zedd didn't work out. There were so many things she could do with the girl.

"Would you like to keep an eye on our guest?" Angelus asked. It wouldn't be long before Zedd summoned him. He needed to leave someone in charge.

Drusilla smiled. "It would be my pleasure." An evil look crossed her face as she walked over and stood in front of Kim.

Angel walked out of the room with Spike on his heels. "So what are you going to do now?" asked Spike as he wheeled fast to keep up.

"Wait for Zedd to come talk to me," Angelus replied, his confidence showing through.

Spike frowned. "What makes you think he's just going to come talk to you?" Angelus was so damn cocky. He himself had come up with dozens of plans, but he was never this full of himself on something this flimsy.

"Simple. He spies on those power rangers all the time. If he doesn't know by now, he'll know soon enough that I have one of them. Then we'll" Angelus was unable to finish his sentence as he was engulfed in a flash of light. Once the light went away and he adjusted his eyes, he realized he was looking out a window at Earth from the moon.

"Welcome," Lord Zedd said, resisting the urge to stake this meddlesome vampire where he stood.

Angelus spun around and saw the demon sitting on his throne. "Pretty nice place you've got here."

"I'd like to think so," Zedd replied as his fingers curled around his staff.

"Not that we don't like your company or anything, but we'd really like for you to tell us why you have one of the rangers and then get out," Rita said. It was their job to torment the rangers and they didn't appreciate the interference.

"Straight to business. My kind of people," Angelus said smiling. When they didn't look amused he continued. "I took your ranger to get your attention. I need information."

"And what makes you think I will give it to you?" asked Zedd. If this vampire thought that he was simply going to hand over information he had another thing coming to him.

"Because I have one of those rangers wrapped up all nice for you and she's all yours," Angelus replied with a smile.

Rita crossed her arms over her chest. "And what happens if we say no?"

Angelus simply shrugged. "My boys will eventually find what they're looking for, although not nearly as soon as I would like. As for the girl, well, Dru's been dying for a taste of ranger blood. And either way I still had a pretty good day."

Zedd and Rita thought for a moment. Rita glanced over at her husband and spoke. "Well you know, Tommy and Kimberly are back together. He would do anything for her." She remembered the duo the first time around. It was sickening.

"Yes... yes he would, and the rest of the team would follow. If they don't do what we want, we could make her evil and have the pink Ninjetti on our side," Zedd agreed with his wife. The possibilities were endless. "Fine, we'll do it."

"Just tell me what I need to know and I would be happy to take your monkey down and hand over the girl," Angelus told him as he stuck his thumb in Goldar's direction.

Zedd nodded and Angelus proceeded to ask him for information.

* * *

Buffy walked down the street and approached a building, pausing to glare at the door. She knew there would be vampires in there, but she wasn't sure how many. She didn't think it housed as many as usual. Angelus had sent them out searching for something. It didn't matter though. She is the slayer after all.

With inhuman strength Buffy kicked the doors down, immediately frying the unlucky vampires who were standing in front of it. She flew through the few vampires that were standing near the front, quickly turning them into dust as some more ran toward her. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Spike wheeling off somewhere. She wasted no time taking out the rest of the vampires before chasing after him.

Her chase put her in front of another closed door. She knocked that door down and saw the girl who must have been Carri's friend, along with Goldar, Spike, Drusilla and Angelus.

"Buffy, how many times do I have to tell you we're through? I know you still want me, hell you're so in love you couldn't even tell your other friends about the breakup," Angelus said, smiling broadly at his ex-girlfriend.

Buffy smiled as she twirled the stake in her hand. She was done letting him get to her. "This isn't a social call."

"Always right down to business," Angelus said as he moved to attack her.

Not wasting time Buffy rushed him. The slayer kicked him quickly, then jumped over him and ran toward Kim.

Kim looked at her as Goldar pulled her to her feet. She knew that this may be her only chance for escape. She kneed Goldar, causing him to let go, then she kicked him backwards. She saw Buffy approach, and then she saw someone else run at her from the side. "Look out!" Kim called.

Buffy saw Drusilla try and attack her, she kicked her in the stomach and she went flying across the room.

"Hey!" Spike exclaimed, wanting more than anything to jump up and defend his girlfriend against the slayer.

"What are you going to do about it cripple?" Buffy asked, twirling her stake as she looked threateningly at him.

"It's not him you have to worry about, it's me," Angelus said as he attacked her from behind.

Buffy went flying and landed at Goldar's feet. She took the opportunity to kick Goldar back as she stood up. Angelus came after her, but she grabbed him and pushed him past her, slamming him into Goldar. The two stumbled and Buffy grabbed Kim's arm to lead the two of them out. Angelus leaped in front of them and blocked the doorway, and then he attacked the slayer. Goldar quickly jumped into the fight and went after Kim. Kim tried to kick him back, but he swept her legs out from under her. Not wanting to waste any more time, he leaned down to grab her. Buffy tried to get over to her but Angelus blocked her path.

"Deals done. You can't save her now," he said as he punched Buffy back.

"Watch me," she said as she tried to push past him. Angelus anticipated her move and threw her out of the way. As Buffy stood up, she saw Kim loose the battle with Goldar and get teleported off. She looked around her and saw Angelus come after her. This round was over and he had won. There was only one option left, and she took one quick look around the room to find a way out. Buffy quickly climbed up a stack of crates and saw Angelus start to follow. Wasting no time, she broke a window that had been painted over and the sunlight came pouring in. Angelus stopped short and looked at her, giving her a smile and blowing her a kiss as she jumped out the window.

"You and that slayer," Spike said, shaking his head as he wheeled up next to him. He didn't get the obsession. Angelus had a master plan; it was a waste of time.

"But it's so much fun," Angelus replied. He smiled as he walked away to apply the valuable information that Zedd and given him.

* * *

Rocky, Willow and Carri teleported back to the Power Chamber. "You won't have to worry about Angelus trying to slip into your apartment in the middle of the night and eat you," Willow said with a smile.

Jason smiled back at her. "That's certainly good to know." The last thing he wanted to worry about was evil vampires breaking in.

"Have you heard anything from Buffy yet?" Tommy asked, the concern on his face obvious. He frowned as Carri shook her head no.

"Don't worry. She grabbed some stakes and took off as soon as she got done talking to me," Willow said, trying to reassure the red ranger.

Tommy made a face. "She went after Angelus alone?" He assumed they'd go together.

"She is the slayer you know," Willow said glaring at him. Buffy would say if she was in over her head - most of the time anyway. If she thought she couldn't rescue Kim, she would have rounded up the troops.

"Don't forget Tommy we have seen her in action, we know what she's capable of," Kat pointed out. If the slayer said she could do it, she trusted her.

"Yeah but...," Tommy let his voice trailed off as he frowned.

"But he doesn't want Buffy to have all the glory in destroying Angelus," Rocky finished for him. He looked over at Tommy, who kind of smiled at him. Rocky got it, he wanted a piece of Angelus as well. Even Carri was nodding her head in agreement.

"I don't think she's going to destroy him," Willow said, watching as the others reacted immediately to her statement.

"What?" snapped Tommy, taking two steps toward Willow.

"Well for one he's super strong as you may have noticed already," Willow paused and glanced at Carri who nodded. "Two, it's, well... it's complicated."

"I thought he loved her. I don't understand how this could have happened," Carri said. She'd seen the two of them together, she thought they were headed for the bedroom, not for the boxing ring.

"They did love each other. That's how it happened. But the gypsy curse," Willow paused and let out a sigh, "They wanted him to be miserable. If he were to experience one moment of pure happiness, well his soul would be removed and he would be Angelus again."

"One moment of pure happiness? But what," Carri paused as it dawned on her. Perhaps they had headed to the bedroom after all. "Ooooh," she said, drawing out the word.

The boys couldn't help but smile. "That's a lot to ask a man to give up in exchange for a soul," Rocky joked, the moment of pure happiness not lost on any of the male rangers. The others chuckled, and for a moment some of the tension in the room was dissolved. They almost thought they could relax for a minute when the phone rang.

Carri went to answer her phone, but Tommy beat her to it. He glanced at the caller id. No name, but it was definitely a California number. "Hello?" he said as he rushed to answer.

"Who is this?" asked Buffy, curious as to what male was picking up the phone.

"Tommy. Where's Kim?" He wasn't going to bother with any pleasantries.

If he wanted to get down to business she would. "Goldar took her."

"What?" Tommy asked getting angrier by the minute. "What happened?"

"I went to rescue her. We were on our way out. Angelus and Goldar wouldn't let us leave." That explanation was good enough.

Tommy was furious. "Why didn't you call us? We could have helped." As a ranger that wouldn't fly. If there was a battle they always called each other.

"I wasn't sure where they were. I was following hunches. I am the slayer you know. Besides, there wasn't much more you could have done." She was not going to get a lecture from the red ranger. She had done what was best given the situation.

"Where did he take her?" It was useless getting angry about it, what was done was done. There were more important things to worry about.

Buffy sighed. "I don't know."

Tommy slammed the phone down on the table out of frustration. Carri picked it up to talk to Buffy and Tommy looked around at the others. "Goldar has Kim."

"Zedd is not going to just sit on this. He'll tell us what he wants, then we can figure out how to rescue her," Jason assured him. He was no happier than Tommy was about Kim being in the enemies clutches but they would rescue her.

Tommy knew he was right, but that didn't make him feel any better about things. Carri hung her phone up and looked over at Willow. "Buffy said someone named Oz is waiting for you?"

Willow grinned as a blush formed in her cheeks. "Yeah. That's my boyfriend."

Carri smiled and nodded. "Thank you for your help."

"Anytime," Willow replied as she said goodbye and was teleported out.

"Now what?" asked Tommy as he looked at the remaining rangers.

Rocky looked at his friend. It had to be killing him. He knew how he would feel if it was Carri. However they really only had one option. "We wait for Zedd."

* * *

Goldar teleported in with Kim. He kicked her in the back of her knees to make her kneel down before Zedd. His master got off of his throne and walked over to her. "Perfect," he said with a smile.

"So what should we do with her?" Rita asked as she glared at the girl in front of her.

"Can we kill her sis? Please?" begged Rito as he walked over and joined them.

"No. At least not yet. The rangers won't give us anything if she's dead," Rita said. She thought about killing her, but only after they got use out of her as a bargaining chip.

"My lord, we could ask for the other rangers' powers in return for her life," Goldar suggested. That would get those power brats off of their back.

Zedd thought about that for a moment. "No. They may just try and trick us. However we may be able to get one ranger to bring all five power crystals. Then we'll tell them that once we validate the crystals, they can have Kim back. Of course, we'll just kill both rangers."

Rita's eyes lit up. "I have a better idea. Let's not kill them. Let's alter their power crystals and use the two rangers to start our very own team of dark rangers." Her father was after the Zeo Crystal for a reason. It was powerful, and using it for their own dark purposes would make very good use out of it.

"Brilliant!" Zedd said. He knew there was a reason he was with her. "Now all we have to do is talk to the rangers."

Zedd set his throne room up. He had Goldar hold onto Kim so he could talk. Then he contacted the Power Chamber. As they answered their communication, he saw the five rangers standing there. "Hello rangers."

"What do you want?" asked Tommy with a growl.

"It's more like what do you want," Zedd said as he grabbed Kim by the hair and yanked her head up.

"Don't you hurt her!" Tommy yelled. He locked eyes with Kim for a moment. She looked as alright as she could be. She was obviously tired and he could tell she was determined to do something.

"You're in no position to be making demands," Zedd pointed out as he took his staff and shoved the Z end into Kim's chest.

Tommy was getting ready to yell something else when Jason stepped in. "Let her go Zedd. It's us you want." Tommy may be the current red, but he was in no position to be negotiating with Zedd at the moment.

"How right you are," Zedd said with a chuckle. "I'll let her go on one condition. You bring me your Zeo Crystal – all five pieces. Just one of you. Once I see that the crystals is real, she's free to go. Try and trick me rangers, and her blood will be on your hands. You have one hour."

"Tommy don't"

Zedd cut Kim off by ending the transmission. "Get her out of my sights," he said. Goldar dragged her up roughly by her arm and led her to one of their containment cells.

* * *

"We can't give him our powers," Kat pointed out as she turned toward the others.

"Is there a way to produce fake crystals that are good enough for him to think they are real?" Jason asked. Stunts like that had worked before.

"I suppose it's possible," Billy started to say as he thought about it.

"I don't think that will work," Rocky pointed out. The Zeo Crystal was unique. He wasn't sure how Billy would be able to convincingly copy its power.

Jason frowned. He knew he was right. "It may be our only chance though."

Tommy looked at the others. He had been silent since the transmission ended, but he knew what he had to do. What he was going to do. "I'm going to rescue her."

"What?" Kat asked, stunned. That wasn't a very good idea. He knew it killed him to see her like that but there had to be another way.

"You guys are right. He won't be fooled by fake crystals, and we can't give him our powers. So I am going to rescue her," Tommy quickly explained himself. "They won't be able to sense a Ninjetti on in the palace as long as I stay hidden. If Billy teleports me outside of their force field, I can slip in, get Kim, and get out."

"Tommy that's insane. He'll kill you if he finds you and we won't be able to protect you," Kat argued. They may not have been in love anymore, but that didn't mean she still didn't care about him.

"Kim's life is on the line. I have to do it," Tommy said. He wasn't going to argue with Kat about this. Even if Zordon said no he'd still be inclined to go.

Kat wanted to say something. She wanted to talk him out of it. She was angry because nobody else was trying. She looked desperately at the others for backup.

Rocky saw the pleading look on Kat's face, but as he caught Carri's glance he knew how he felt. "I would do it," he said looking over at Tommy. "If Zedd had Carri, I would go to try and rescue her in a heartbeat."

Tommy smiled at him. "Thanks man," he said gracious for the support. It may be dangerous but he had no doubts that Zedd would kill Kim the first chance he got.

Sighing, Jason looked over at his friend. He never worried about Emily in that sense, but he knew he would go to extreme measures to rescue her if her life was in danger. "We'll try and think of something while you're gone. Remember you only have an hour and then he's expecting the Zeo Crystal."

"Good luck Tommy," Carri said smiling at him. She absolutely agreed with his need to run off on this mission. If she had two good arms, she'd volunteer to do the rescuing. She felt like she owed it to Kim.

"Be safe Tommy," Kat told him. She still wasn't convinced that this was a good idea, but it was frustratingly clear she was out voted. She didn't get it, they were behind Tommy risking his life when there had to be other options.

Tommy looked at his friends. "I'll be back soon with Kim," he told them confidently. "Ninjetti, falcon!" The white Ninjetti stood before them. He nodded at Billy, then the former ranger teleported him to the moon.

Kat sighed. "So what are we going to do if...," she let her voice trial off. She didn't want to think about what might follow the if.

"Billy do you think you can make those fake crystals? I mean, if we take them to him, we still have our Ninjetti powers to protect us. And Kim is a Ninjetti too," Jason pointed out. Maybe if they could distract Zedd for a minute they'd have a shot at getting everybody out.

"I can try. I might be able to make almost exact duplicates of the four crystals. Tommy's is going to be a little harder since he is on the moon," Billy told him as he started to think about how that would work.

"I must remind you rangers that this is going to be very dangerous," Zordon said. He had stayed out of the conversation, letting the rangers work through most of it on their own. He agreed with their decisions, which pleased him. The power had chosen well in these teens. He'd heard rumblings across the galaxy, and if the time came that he could no longer be there with them he knew they would carry on and make him proud.

Billy nodded in agreement with their mentor as he looked around the room. "There's no guarantee this will work. We have to hope Tommy succeeds. If he doesn't... if he gets caught Zedd may kill them both. If we're lucky enough and he doesn't, someone still has to deliver the power crystals."

"I'll go," Carri volunteered. She saw Rocky go to say something but she continued talking. "If you think about it, it makes sense. We're all still Ninjetti's, so I have that on my side. And really, if something were to happen to me... well if we rescue Kim at least you'll have someone experienced to take my place." She may not be able to rescue Kim but she could still contribute.

Rocky looked sternly at her. He cared so much about her that he would protest anything she did that would put her life in danger. However she usually knew what she was doing, and he would never stop her. Not this time though - this was just plain stupid. "You're crippled. You can't morph. And a whole hell of a lot of good your Ninjetti powers are going to do you with one hand. You won't be able to rescue Kim if it comes down to that. Then we'll lose both of you."

Carri started to respond, but Kat stepped in before the conversation went much farther. "You're right," she said. Both parties stopped to stare at her. "Both of you. We are still Ninjetti's. If someone can rescue Kim and that costs them their own lives, well Kim would be the best choice to replace a ranger since Billy can't accept Zeo powers." Kat paused and turned to her cousin. "Carri I know you feel responsible for Kim being in this situation, and I know you feel like you need to get some sort of revenge. Rocky's right though, you're crippled. For you to do this would be suicide. That's why I'll go."

"Are you sure?" Jason asked looking at her. From what he gathered since he's been back Kat was a good ranger, but this didn't seem like it was something that was within her comfort zone.

Kat nodded in response. She didn't want to die, but someone had to volunteer and she was the most logical option. "Just get the crystals ready. Hopefully, Tommy will rescue Kim first," she said as she turned and walked over to one of the control panels.

The other rangers stood there silently for a moment before they went to join Billy to see if he could use any help.

* * *

The White Falcon Ninjetti stood outside the force field to the Lunar Palace. He had been teleported in near the back, somewhere that Rita and Zedd couldn't see him from the throne room. He slipped into the force field. He was now officially unprotected. He was unable to use his Zeo powers or teleport.

That didn't matter. He planned on being sneaky. He planned on getting Kim and getting out of there before anything bad could happen. There weren't any guards on the side of the palace, so he quickly made his way to the palace. Once he got there he headed for the door, hugging the stone wall as he went. He slipped around the corner and noticed the back door.

There were no guards there either and Tommy didn't know what to think. He would never accuse Zedd of being so cocky to think that nobody would break into his place. He walked over to the back door and stuck his ear to it. He could hear a faint squawking. He stayed at the door until the noise finally faded out of the picture. Being as quiet as he could, he cracked the door open and slipped in.

He found himself in a hallway, with a few torches lighting it. He knew from being the green ranger that this was the back of Rita's dungeon like basement. He also knew from those days that Rita rarely took anybody down here, except for torture. If she came across a prisoner, she would keep them on one of the upper levels, in one of her holding cells. That was where he had to assume Kim was.

Tommy snuck over to a stairwell. He saw some Tengas coming down the hall, and he quickly moved up the stairs. He continued to sneak around the hallways of the palace, trying to get to Kim.

"I'm so excited, we finally get to get rid of those stupid rangers. Then maybe Ed will let me go down and have some fun," Tommy heard Rito say as he and Goldar started to round the corner. Tommy quickly ducked into a side room.

"I just hope all goes according to plan," Goldar grumbled as they walked down the hallway.

"What could go wrong?" asked Rito. The plan was perfect.

From where Tommy was standing, he could see the duo walk past him. He quickly peeked out to see if the coast was clear. Once he was sure that Rito and Goldar were gone, he continued to work his way up.

* * *

It took Tommy a lot longer than expected to get to the holding cells. He didn't think he had much more than fifteen or twenty minutes to get her out. As soon as he stepped into the section with the cells, he looked around. Each cell had a panel beside it. If the panel was glowing green, it was free. If it was red, it was occupied. He only saw one red panel.

He quickly ran over to the cell in question. "Hey beautiful," he said to the figure on the floor.

Kim perked up at the sound of his voice. "Tommy?" she questioned although she knew the answer.

"I'm busting you out of here," he said hitting a button on the outside of the cell allowing the force field in front of it to drop.

"My knight in shining armor," she said as she ran and threw her arms around him. Goldar had freed her arms before he put her in the cell. She wouldn't have been able to teleport, she didn't have Zeo powers, and they weren't too concerned with her becoming a Ninjetti.

"Are you ok?" he asked, concern in his voice as he looked her over.

"I'm fine," she assured him. "I'm just glad you came to rescue me. I was scared that someone would have tried to hand over your powers. Zedd was going to use them to make us evil." She would give up her life in a heartbeat to keep the planet safe.

"Well you don't have to worry about that now," Tommy promised. She smiled and nodded. Tommy looked at her. "Are you ready?"

"Almost," she said as she stepped away from him. "Ninjetti, crane!" She was not going to let him have all the fun on the way out.

Tommy smiled as the Pink Crane Ninjetti stood before him. He took her hand and led her through the palace.

* * *

The four rangers stood in the Power Chamber nervously. Their time had elapsed and there was no sign of Tommy or Kim. Billy had created the fake crystals, but nobody was convinced that they were going to work.

Zedd wasted no time trying to reach them to make the exchange. "Are you ready?"

"Where's Kim? We have to see that she's alright," Jason demanded to see their friend.

Zedd did not move to reveal her. He sent Goldar for her and Goldar hadn't returned. Zedd glared at the four rangers. "Where's Tommy?"

Nobody was quite sure what to say. Carri was the first to think of something. "You kidnapped the love of his life. Even the leader of the power rangers is entitled to a breakdown," she finished, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at him.

Zedd laughed. This was certainly going better than expected. "Once Goldar returns with Kimberly, I will let you see her. Then I am teleporting one of you with the crystals. Which one might that be?"

"I'm going," Kat said as she held the box in her hand that contained the fake crystals.

Rita smiled from the back. Her first hope was that Tommy would come make the exchange and then she could have him be an evil ranger again. However Kat coming, well that was almost just as good.

Goldar ran into the throne room. "Lord Zedd."

"I see you've brought," Zedd stopped as he turned toward him. He was getting ready to reveal Kim to the rangers but she wasn't there. "Where is she?" he hissed.

"She is gone," Goldar said, taking a step back as he could see how angry Zedd was getting.

"Well search this palace until you find her!" Zedd yelled. Suddenly it occurred to him that Tommy wasn't there and Kim was missing. They had to still be here or the rangers wouldn't even pretend to entertain the idea anymore. He ended the transmission and went to help look for the ranger.

As the screen went dark, the four rangers looked at each other. "We have to find them before he does," Jason pointed out. This would not end well for either of his friends.

"I can't scan the interior of the palace," Billy said as he shook his head. "The force field they have up is too powerful."

"What if you pull up images of the exterior? Maybe they have made it out by now," Rocky suggested. It was a long shot but he was hopeful.

"That I can do," Billy said as he worked quickly to pull up the images they wanted. A few seconds later, the screen was split into four corners, one corner each showing a live feed from one side of the Lunar Palace.

"There they are!" Kat exclaimed pointed towards the back entrance.

They had over two hundred yards to sprint when dozens of Tengas appeared before them, with Rito and Goldar coming from behind.

"They'll never make it," Kat worried as she watched them stop and get into fighting position.

"We have to go help them," Jason said. It was not a suggestion, he was going whether anyone agreed or not.

"Right," Rocky said, not hesitating to move into morphing position. "It's morphin time!"

"Zeo ranger one, pink!"

"Zeo ranger three, blue!"

"Zeo ranger four, green!"

Carri sighed as she watched her three friend's teleport off without her. She didn't know how Billy did it all the time, standing by and watching unable to use powers to join in. She turned toward the former blue ranger and made a face. "Do you think they can help them?"

"I sure hope so," Billy said as he turned toward her. "They're the only chance we've got."

* * *

Kim and Tommy stood there as the Tengas were closing in on them. They had nowhere to run. They couldn't run back into the palace, it was too risky. Even if they wanted to Rito and Goldar were blocking their path. They didn't know if they could make it outside of the perimeter, there were too many Tengas.

"We have to try," Kim said, refusing to give up without a fight.

Tommy agreed. "We've come too far to give up now," he said as the two Ninjetti's prepared for a fight.

Before they got a chance to get into the battle several of the Tengas were taken out by a stream of multicolored light. Standing behind them was three Zeo rangers, Zeo Cannon in hand.

"Nice of you to join us," Tommy said as he smiled. The tides may have turned in their favor.

"We wouldn't leave you on your own," Jason assured him as he and Rocky ran over to battle Goldar and Rito, while the two Ninjetti's helped Kat fight the Tengas.

"There's still too many of them!" Kim said as she looked at the birds, who appeared to have doubled in number.

"We can't give up!" Tommy yelled back.

As they were fighting, another ranger entered the battle. "It's time for a gold rush!" Trey yelled as he took out a chunk of the birds.

The battle between good and evil outside the Lunar Palace continued for a while. Rocky and Jason seemed to be holding Goldar and Rito off for the most part. Tommy, Kim, Kat and Trey were managing the Tengas. Eventually both sides regrouped. The rangers stared down the Tengas, Rito and Goldar.

"I have an idea," Trey said as the rangers turned to him. "You three hit them with the Zeo Cannon. As they are starting to regroup, I will run through with a gold rush. If you guys push through behind me, hopefully we can get out and teleport."

"It's worth a shot," Jason said. It was the best idea they were going to come up with.

"We need the Zeo Cannon now!" Rocky yelled. The cannon appeared in the hands of the three morphed Zeo rangers and they fired their weapon. As they fired they sent their weapon away, and watched as the bad guys scattered.

As most of them hit the ground, Trey ran through with a Gold Rush, scattering the ones still standing. The other rangers were right on his heels and they all ran through the Tengas. They saw them start to get up, but they had dazed them enough that they weren't as quick as Zedd would have wanted them to be. The rangers reached the edge of the force field. As they walked through it, they all teleported off.

* * *

Zedd was fuming as Goldar and Rito walked in. "How could you let them get away!"

"Well, uh, you see"

"Silence! I do not want to hear your miserable excuses!" Zedd yelled cutting Rito off. This plan was foolproof. He just hadn't counted on the two fools messing it up.

"Aww, Zeddie, now what?" Rita whined as she felt a headache coming on.

Zedd stormed over to his throne and sat down. "We will find a way to destroy those rangers. That, Rita, I promise you."

* * *

Carri smiled as the five rangers' teleported back and powered down. "Kim!" she exclaimed as she went to give her friend a hug. She was thrilled that she was alright.

Kim returned the hug. She smiled at her friend. "I have a suggestion."

"What's that?" Carri asked. She owed Kim for this mess, she'd be up for anything.

"Next time you invite your friends evil ex-boyfriends over, put a note on the door or something. I don't think I want to get in the middle of that anymore," she finished as she grinned at her. It wasn't Carri's fault at all, but she was going to pick on her.

Carri laughed. "I think that's the last of any evil ex-boyfriends that we'll be seeing around here. Unless of course Tommy gets pissy and decides he wants to destroy the world." That was something she would not want to be around for.

"I don't know. Watch out," Tommy joked, smiling.

"Speaking of world destruction, let's not forget that the reason Kim was kidnapped was so that Angelus could find something that would help him destroy the world," Jason pointed out. He didn't like having to worry about that.

"Do you think he got the information he needed?" asked Kat as she turned to glance at the pink Ninjetti.

"He never would have given me up if he didn't," Kim replied. If he hadn't gotten the information she would have been left to Drusilla. Thirty minutes in the crazy vampires care was more than enough to last a lifetime.

"So what do we do now?" asked Rocky as he looked at the others.

"Nothing," Carri replied frowning. She didn't like the answer but it was out of their domain. "I'm afraid this is something that Buffy is going to have to take care of."

Rocky looked at her. "Do you think she can handle it? I mean with the whole Angel/Angelus sex thing."

"I hope so. She is still the slayer," Carri said. She got it if Buffy was hurt, but she didn't think that would stop her when it mattered.

Jason nodded. From the time he spent with her he doubted she'd really let it get in the way. "The fate of the world depends on it."

Tommy looked down at his girlfriend. "So, Kim, how are you feeling?"

"I feel fine. I mean, they didn't really hurt me," she assured him.

"Are you guys still up for going out?" he asked glancing over at Rocky and Carri.

Rocky glanced at Carri for approval. She smiled at him. "Absolutely. Just because my afternoon got ruined doesn't mean my night has to."

"You guys want to get out of here?" Rocky asked as he glanced at his friends.

"Sure," Kim said. She was getting ready to teleport out when she noticed something was missing. "Oh, has anybody seen my communicator?"

Rocky took it out of his pocket and handed it back to her. She smiled as she put it on. "Now let's get out of here," Kim said before the foursome teleported back to the apartment.

"I guess I'd better get going too. I have to work on an assignment that's due tomorrow," Jason said, ready to put the day behind him.

"I have to go too. I promised Chris that I would go out with him and some of his friends," Kat said as she looked at Billy. "What about you?"

Billy frowned. "Well, I"

"You're coming back home, where you're going to share a pizza with me and then when I finish my assignment we'll go catch a movie," Jason said to his friend. Billy rarely went out, but he wasn't going to let him hideaway in the Power Chamber, at least for that night.

"Sounds good," Billy said smiling. Since Trini left, he hadn't gone out as much. "Just give me five minutes."

"Will do," Jason said as he teleported out.

"I'll see you later," Kat said as she followed suit.

Billy stood in the Power Chamber for a moment enjoying the silence. Then he grabbed Alpha to quickly finish up what they were doing before this whole fiasco started.

* * *

Angelus laughed as he walked inside with something in his hands that was covered in cloths. Spike made a face as he looked at him. "What's so funny?"

"Zedd let the ranger escape," Angelus replied as he started to unwrap his prize.

Spike smiled. He never thought too highly of him, and he never found him to be competent. "How did you find that out?"

"I have my resources," Angelus replied, tossing the cloths aside and sitting the object down on a table.

Spike wheeled over to the table. "Is that it?"

"With Zedd's little piece of advice, it was easy to find. At least one of us got what we wanted." He didn't feel bad for the demon. He hand wrapped a ranger for him, it should have been easy.

Drusilla clapped as she walked over to them. "I can hardly contain my excitement. How much longer now?"

"We're almost ready," Angelus assured her. "Then Zedd's rangers won't matter anymore because they'll be destroyed along with the rest of this miserable planet."

"What about the slayer?" Spike asked as he crossed his arms and glared at him.

"She'll be destroyed too," Angelus replied as though it was obvious.

Spike rolled his eyes. "I mean, she's going to try to stop you."

"Oh I'm sure she'll try. But she loves Angel. And do you really think she'll have the guts to kill me?" He was banking on the fact that she didn't.

"If the fate of the world depends on it," Spike pointed out. She may have loved Angel, but no more than the world she lived in and the people she protected.

Angelus laughed. "You overestimate her. I will take Buffy out, and then no one will be left to stop me." Angelus glanced at his friends. Spike seemed annoyed and Dru's eyes sparkled with glee. In the end it didn't matter what either of them thought. He was going to bring about the end of the world. Nobody, no ranger and especially not Buffy, was going to stop him.


	23. A Fight Among Friends

**Disclaimer:** All things Power Rangers still belong to Saban. All OCs are mine and can not be used without my permission.

Ranger Scrolls  
"A Fight Among Friends"

Carri smiled as she sat at the kitchen table of her apartment. It was a nice peaceful day, which was somewhat rare in the craziness that was her life. She and her friends had made it through their first year at USC - they had made it to sophomore status. She was excited for the summer. Tommy and Kim left a few days ago to go out of town. Assuming that experiment was successful the rest of the team was going to take vacations. She had one for sure in mind.

Although she was excited for the summer, it was going to be kind of strange. Rocky, Tommy and Kat had already moved out of their dorms and back to Angel Grove. They were living in their apartment year round, although she didn't expect to see Billy around much. He keeps talking about wanting to take off for Europe for a while. She knew Jason wasn't going to spend much of his summer in LA. He was too excited to go home and get to see his girlfriend. In fact, he had left right after finals to go back. That left her and Kim. She figured they would spend some time here. Both of them liked the city; however both of them had boyfriends in Angel Grove. So they probably would be back and forth. She just hoped the place would get some use.

Suddenly there was an unexpected knock at the door and Carri got up to go answer it. She paused for a moment at the door noticing the cross that was nailed there. It was a constant reminder of one of their adventures. It was also a reminder of the uncertainty of the future of their planet. She sighed as she opened the door and saw the Fed-Ex delivery guy standing there. She smiled as she remembered her and Kim fighting to get to the door to see him. They found him attractive. Of course, it would always be a look don't touch sort of thing.

"Hi Carri, I'm glad someone's still here," he said as he handed her a package.

She grinned, not at all surprised that most of the campus had taken off on him. "What can I say I love LA," She said as she took the package and set it on the floor. She quickly signed for it, and then the Fed-Ex guy took off.

Carri glared at the oversized box sitting on her floor. The return label was from her parents' penthouse in New York. Curious she opened it. Sitting on the top of the box was a letter from her mother, telling her that she had the house cleaned and reorganized, and that there was simply no room for her VHS tapes. She didn't want to deal with them so she left them to her daughter to keep or toss. Carri wasn't sure what she expected to find. She dug in the box and started to look at the labels. "No way," she said grinning as she realized what was on them. She had all but forgotten about it.

She reached for her phone. There were people who she had to share these with. Well at least one person. The rest of them hadn't gotten home yet. She quickly called her friends number.

"Hello?" Matt Drake asked as he picked up the phone.

"Hey," Carri replied, her casual voice not quite representing how she was feeling.

If the caller ID hadn't given her away, Matt would have recognized the voice of his old friend anywhere. "Hey, what's up?"

"Not much," she continued to be casual, "My mom sent me an entire box of video tapes that I made. Doubt you'd ever guess what was on them."

"No shit," he said as he smiled. There was only one reason for her to be calling him excited about video tapes and he knew exactly what it was. "I figured all that stuff was long gone."

"You still in LA?" Carri asked, anxious to watch them and get a kick out of their younger selves.

"No, I went back home already." He had a dorm and he had evacuated at the first opportunity.

"You wanna see what's on these?" She asked, knowing full well what his answer would be.

He grinned from the other side of the phone. "Hell yeah."

Carri smiled at the expected response. "Give me an hour. Then meet me at my aunt and uncle's."

"Sounds good. I'll see you then."

"Later," Carri said as they both of them hung up the phone. Carri went to pack a bag. She had been planning on going home this weekend anyway, now she would just leave a little early. She was excited. It was always fun to have a chance to relive childhood memories. She hurried to get ready so she could leave.

* * *

Up on Earth's moon two figures were trying to figure out what their next move would be. Rita looked over at Zedd. She was angry about all their past attempts failing. They could not destroy those rangers. "What should we do? None of the monsters we have sent down are worth anything."

"We will find the perfect monster," Zedd assured her. He was just as angry as she was.

"And until then?" Rita asked crossly. "I hate leaving them down there to be happy."

Zedd thought for a moment. He thought he had a next move, but he wasn't sure quite how to execute it. "I have been thinking about how we could devastate those rangers. Tommy and Kimberly have gone out of town, and it shouldn't be hard to take out the other four."

"What do you want to do Zeddie?" Anything he could come up with was better than letting them have fun.

"I want to find a spell that can make the remaining four rangers angry and turn them against each other. Then we can send down a monster. With the rangers not co-operating, it should be easy to destroy them," Zedd explained. In fact they'd practically destroy themselves before he ever got the chance if things went the way he thought they would.

Rita laughed. "That sounds like a brilliant plan."

"Yes," Zedd agreed with her. "Now all we need to do is get Finster to create the perfect potion. Soon my dear, we will be unstoppable."

* * *

Carri sat in the living room of her Aunt and Uncle's house trying to decide which tape to play first. Finally she came across the main one she was looking for. "We have to see this one," she said grinning as she walked over to put it in the VCR.

"What is it?" Matt asked, hoping she would start with what he really wanted to see. They were probably on dozens of video tapes together, but he wanted to check out the one of them with her cousins.

She smiled. "You'll see." Carri put the tape in and pressed play. First they heard voices. Then a picture came into focus. It was her family's old house - or the garage of their old house. In the picture were a few old mattresses her parents were getting ready to have collected with the trash. They had laid them on the floor and supported them with stuff they found in the garage. Standing around them were her cousins Matt and Jeff, and her brother Josh. They had been figuring out a way to rope off the mattresses so they could use them.

They watched as their younger selves came into view, along with a few friends of theirs. "We'll be a team," her cousin Matt said motioning to him and Josh. Carri smiled as she remembered the summers her cousins came to visit. Matt and Josh were close in age, as were she and Jeff. They used to have much fun together.

"What about team Hardy?" asked Jeff as he crossed his arms and glared at his brother.

"We'll be a team," a young Matt said motioning to him and Jeff. Jeff nodded eagerly, ready to get into the ring.

Matt chuckled thinking about those lazy summer days. He befriended Jeff while they were there. "It's hard to believe they're famous now."

"I know. I hardly get to see them anymore," Carri replied. She couldn't even remember the last time they'd hung out, and she frowned thinking about how she missed them as she watched more of the tape.

A young Carri put her hands on her hips. "What about me?" she asked, not one to be outdone by all the boys.

Matt threw an arm around her. "You're my girl, so you are going to be mine and Jeff's ringside babe."

Carri rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. She was never going to be anybody's ringside babe. "I wanna wrestle."

"You can wrestle in a girls match later, after me and Jerry win the tag team title," they heard Luke Wright say from somewhere off camera. "With Sally," he added. Sally had been Luke's girlfriend at the time.

Matt and Carri smiled as they remembered what set this afternoon up. In the summers whoever was in town got together almost every day. When Matt and Jeff came, well they were obsessed with one thing - wrestling. Everyone else thought it was fun so they would all get together and goof off. This was their last summer in Angel Grove, and it was the only time they tried to wrestle in the Hillard's garage. This was the first time they taped it, and they goofed around for hours making a wrestling show. Josh and Carri's parents were gone all day and were none the wiser about what their kids had been up to. This was good, because their mom would have had a conniption and grounded them both.

They watched the interactions with the boys for a while. Carri looked over at Matt. "You know, Josh loved you to death. He thought of you as a little brother. He just didn't like you dating me."

"And why not?" Matt asked. He knew that he and Josh got along well. They hung out often well before the one year he and Carri spent dating. He thought he was cool with him dating his sister, it surprised him to hear that he wasn't.

Carri laughed. "Please, you were the biggest middle school player before we started going out." She had been friends with him forever, she knew all his secrets. Josh wasn't stupid, he knew who Matt was. Of course he also knew it wasn't serious so he let it happen. However if he had gotten word that Matt cheated on his sister he would have creamed him, no matter how much he liked him before.

"You lie," he said with a smile on his face. It was no secret that he was somewhat of a ladies man for a while.

She grinned. They both knew it was true. Why she went out with him she'll never know. Well she did know. He had always been her friend. When they first started hanging out, she was too young to care about boys like that. Then they both started doing the middle school equivalent of dating, and they thought why not try once. After a year they knew it was never going to work, although they still remained friends. She supposed she would have continued hanging out with her old group if she had started as a freshman at Angel Grove High.

Thinking about their relationship, a question came to mind that she had to ask. "Did you ever cheat on me?"

"What kind of question is that?" Matt asked, somewhat hurt that she thought he would do that to her.

"Come on now. This was seven years ago. I don't exactly care anymore one way or the other. I'm just curious," Carri told him. She knew who he was even when she dated him. His answer certainly wouldn't change their friendship now.

"Well," Matt paused for a second as he thought about how he wanted to answer, "To be honest, you were my first real relationship. Well, real for that age anyway. We had been friends for so long, I couldn't do that to you. After you, it was all straight sailing."

"Really?" she asked surprised to hear that come from him. At one point in her youth she didn't think it would be possible for him to be a one woman guy.

He nodded. "Me and Crystal have been together since first semester started, and I wouldn't even think about looking at another woman," he paused and laughed. "Well look maybe but definitely not touch."

Carri smiled as she turned back to the video tape. Matt and Jeff were getting ready to wrestle Jerry and Luke. Matt watched himself jump into the ring first, and start a few moves. He laughed at how silly it was. "I've still got it you know."

"What?" asked Carri as she turned toward him.

"The ability to wrestle," he replied with a grin.

She snorted. "If you call that ability."

Matt jumped up and stuck his arm out, palm up. He looked at her and bent his fingers in a few times.

"Bring it?" Carri questioned. A slow smile spread across her face as she went to attack. One should never challenge a Zeo ranger to a fight.

* * *

Rocky leaned back in a chair, cold drink in hand. He shuffled his feet, accidentally flinging sand in the process. It felt nice to be sitting here under the umbrella, especially since he spent all day sitting out in the hot sun.

"What's up?" Jason asked as he sat down beside his friend, interrupting his silence.

"Not much," Rocky replied, turning toward the green ranger. "Just enjoying this beautiful evening."

"You hanging out here all night?" Jason asked. He doubted the answer was yes. Last he heard Carri was coming back to Angel Grove sometime today.

Rocky shook his head no. "Carri should be at the house later. She's not expecting to see me until in the morning, but I switched shifts and I thought I would surprise her."

Jason smiled and nodded, his suspicious confirmed. "She'll like that." The one and only reason his roommate was coming home at all this summer was for her boyfriend. If he wanted to spend more time with her she'd appreciate it.

"What about you?" Rocky asked. He assumed Jason was out there waiting for a certain waitress.

Jason looked over at his working girlfriend. "We'll probably go out after her shift. She has the day off tomorrow, it's a rare chance to enjoy the night."

"It must be nice to finally get to spend time together." He knew that the only thing his friend hated about going to school in LA was the fact that his girlfriend was still back in Angel Grove.

"It is," Jason said smiling. He was going to be home more this summer than at his apartment, but he knew two female rangers who would probably still get good use out of their place. "What about you guys? You guys going to see each other at all this summer?" If Carri had her way she would never leave. Even though he knew she'd come back to see Rocky, he didn't know how often she'd make the journey.

"I think she's going to go back to the apartment more than you. We have talked about me spending some time with her in LA, and her spending time here. That way the apartment won't go to total waste," Rocky replied. Carri didn't want to leave, and weeks where he was pulling a lot of hours she probably wouldn't. However he could take his days off and stay with her for a while, and she could come home some when he was too busy to get up there.

"I know she and Kim have talked about it. I think she wants to spend some time in LA hanging out with her," Jason said. His understanding was the two girls didn't want to spend the entire summer under Kat's parents thumb. Not when they had their own place, in a city with its own beaches and a larger selection of shopping malls than they could find around here. "I will go back sometimes. I need to bring Emily, show her around the city."

The blue ranger nodded. "I'm looking forward to the summer."

"Are you guys going to try and take off?" They all want to take real vacations if Kim and Tommy's goes well. They had talked about it at length, but nobody had set plans in stone yet.

"She still wants to take me to Australia in June." She wanted to share where she was from, where she was born. She considered Sydney her hometown as she was born in the main hospital there, and she promised to show him around. She also wanted to take him to the town two hours away in the middle of nowhere, the town the rest of her dad's family lived in. "What about you?"

Jason smiled as he thought about a vacation with his girlfriend. "Me and Emily have talked about it. We haven't planned any specifics though, but I'm excited."

Rocky nodded. "I'm glad you guys are doing so well, especially after what happened." It couldn't have been easy for her to find out her boyfriend was a Power Ranger, and he couldn't imagine what it was like for her to know now, to watch him on the news as he ran off to save the world.

"Thanks." It wasn't easy for her to be on the outside of such a huge secret, unable to do anything but watch her boyfriend run into battle. However they were making it work.

Rocky looked down at his watch. "Well, I'm going to go home and clean up. I'll talk to you later." He and Jason exchanged quick goodbyes before he got up and went to his car. It had been a few days since he'd seen Carri, and he couldn't wait to spend time with her again.

* * *

Rocky pulled into the Hillard's driveway. He smiled as he saw Carri's car there. There was another car parked in the driveway though and he frowned not knowing who it belonged to. He got out of his car and went to the front door, which was left unlocked. He opened it and looked around, spotting his girlfriend on the couch with another man.

"Carri?" he greeted her, his voice indicating he wanted to know what this was all about. "What's going on in here?"

Carri looked up at him and smiled. "We are watching old home movies," she said as she jumped up and went and threw her arms around him, giving him a kiss.

He returned the kiss and then she pulled back and started to head to the couch. He followed her and that's when he noticed the giant bruise on her arm. "What happened?" he asked, wondering if he'd missed a call to battle.

She glanced down at the bruise as she sat on the middle seat, pulling him down next to her. "He wrestles rough," she said with a snort. They didn't want to grapple wrestle. They both had significant others and it was inappropriate to go after each other like that, harmless or not. Instead they both resorted to tactics that were a combination of her cousin's off the wall techniques and their own real fighting skills. The result was they were both a little more beat up than they should have been.

"What were you doing wrestling with him?" he asked, his tone accusing as he shot Matt a look. He never liked the other man when they were both at Angel Grove together. None of the rangers really cared for his group, and they generally avoided each other. After their first week of senior year he caught Matt leaning against the lockers with Carri, the two of them joking and carrying on, and he intervened, telling him that his girlfriend was not going to be one of his conquests. Carri had simply rolled her eyes and said that Matt was an old friend, and that they had come to the conclusion a long time ago that there would never be anything between them.

She rolled her eyes in response to his tone. He had nothing to be jealous about with Matt. It was a silly thing to do and she blamed her thirteen year old self. "We used to wrestle all the time when we were kids," she replied, and Rocky raised an eyebrow and glanced at her. "Me and all my friends, Josh and some of his friends, and some of our family. I found the one tape we recorded among our home movies and we were watching it."

Rocky turned toward the TV, where the wrestling tape had been replaced in favor of checking out something else. What he saw was a much younger Carri dressed in an April O'Neil jumpsuit, along with Matt and his friends as the four turtles. He couldn't help but crack a smile. "What, no Shredder?"

The yellow ranger turned toward him and grinned. "You haven't seen Josh yet."

The previous conversation forgotten, Matt decided to seize the opportunity to leave the duo be. "I have to meet Crystal here soon," he said as he stood. "But we will definitely go through more of these later." He was as curious as she was to see what was on the rest of the tapes. Maybe they could even get the rest of the guys to come by.

"Alright. I'll talk to you later," she said. The two exchanged goodbyes and he headed for the front door. Carri turned back toward Rocky, who was busy amusing himself with her approaching brother. Josh was saying something about giving them a good show so they could go trick-or-treating.

Rocky turned toward her as he heard the door closed. "So wrestling huh?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Long story. I can show you the proof if you'd like," she replied with a grin.

"I trust you," he assured her. He didn't need to watch the tape. He might not have trusted Matt, but it was quite obvious that the two of them did go back quite a ways. They were definitely friends and if Carri said it would never be anything more he'd leave it at that.

"You sure you don't want to watch me wrestle?" she asked and he raised an eyebrow. They had the house to themselves that night. Kat was gone and her aunt and uncle were out of town so she was going to make the most of it. "I'm not talking about thirteen year old me. I'm talking about nineteen year old me."

"Oh," he said with a grin as he realized what she was hinting toward. "You want to wrestle me."

"Yup," Carri replied as she stood, a slightly seductive look on her face. "Let's wrestle."

"Bring it on," Rocky replied, standing as well and staring down at his girlfriend. This was going to be fun.

* * *

Kat stretched out across the sand on the beautiful Angel Grove beach. She could feel the water reach her toes and she smiled as she looked over at her boyfriend. He glanced at her new position in the sand and smiled back. "Feet falling asleep?" Chris asked.

"I'm trying not to let them," Kat replied as she smiled. She didn't want any part of her to fall asleep and miss this time with him.

Chris leaned in and kissed his girlfriend on the ear. He was hoping to make her forget about what they had discussed during dinner. He was pretty sure after the visit to the ice cream stand, and the long walk on the beach that followed she had put it out of her mind. However it was a pretty serious conversation. Chris was thinking about transferring to Chapel Hill. Not because he really wanted to go there more than USC, but because he had a chance at getting a scholarship. They had scouts out in California who were looking for new members for their golf team and he had auditioned on a whim. He was actually decent at golf, and if it wasn't so much work he could try to make a career out of it and make money.

He didn't want to leave Kat, he had made that clear. He loved her, and he loved spending time with her. He was sad to see the semester end and her have to go back to Angel Grove and him to Bakersfield, but he would manage. He was here with her tonight and he would spend the entire summer with her if he could. Maybe he could even take her out of town.

As great as the summer would be he still had to think about the fall. A scholarship to Carolina would make his parents life much easier. Not that they couldn't afford USC, they were quite well off and they were the reason he could slack off and do whatever he wanted. However if he had a scholarship somewhere, that would be less money they had to put into his education which meant they would be happy to give him money for other things. The only problem was he would be thousands of miles away from Kat. That's what he had talked to her about during dinner that had made her so sad. However for now he was pretty sure that she had forgotten about it.

"So shall we sit out here all night?" he asked smiling at his girlfriend. He would if that was what she wanted.

She grinned. "Don't tempt me." It was calm and peaceful, and although she wasn't as beach obsessed as her cousin she did like it out there.

"I don't want to just sit here all night." he replied, a mischievous grin crossing his face.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kat asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It means," he paused as he gently pushed her down to the sand and gave her a kiss, "that I don't want to sit here all night."

Kat smiled. "Me neither," she said. Although she didn't want to get too carried away on the beach. They were in public, she didn't want to get caught. She wasn't comfortable with public displays of affection. She wasn't that comfortable with private displays of affection going too far, but she was letting Chris push her limits a bit. Just kissing out here though was nice.

Suddenly a huge wave crashed in and rolled over them. Kat and Chris laughed at their situation. Now soaking wet, they continued on like nothing had happened.

* * *

The next morning Kat and Chris awoke on the beach. They hadn't meant to fall asleep there. But that was all a part of Chris's spontaneity. They quickly said their goodbyes and Kat headed for her parents' house while Chris returned to his own home to see his parents.

It wasn't long before Kat pulled up in her driveway. She immediately took note of the cars in the driveway. One belonged to her cousin, the other to the blue ranger. That meant there were obviously people in the house, which meant she couldn't very well get out of her wet clothes and walk upstairs. She sighed as she walked inside and started to trek toward her room, water trailing behind her as she went up the stairs.

The door to Carri's room flung open as she walked past and the blue ranger emerged. Kat blushed as she thought about what the two of them might have been doing all night. She was hoping to avoid the duo this morning. It made her uncomfortable that he knew that she knew and she stammered. "Um, Rocky, hi, how are you."

"Good morning Kat," Rocky said, not at all phased by running into her. He was used to spending nights at Carri's apartment, and there were a lot of mornings where he'd wake up and hang out with one of her roommates while she was still in bed. It was awkward the first few times but it didn't bother him now. Besides, he wasn't the only one as he'd run into his dorm mate there in the mornings as well.

She flashed him a smile and he took a moment to take in her appearance. Either she was up and out early and was now returning or she had been out all night. "You just getting in?"

"Oh," Kat said, blushing even more now that he realized she'd spent the night with her boyfriend. It was completely harmless sleeping on the beach but still. "I camped on the beach last night."

"Sounds fun," Rocky said as he heard his girlfriend groan from under the covers.

"Make the noise stop," Carri said as she threw the comforter back over her head. She wasn't close to ready to get up yet. They had stayed up really late the night before. She was curious as to where Kat was all night since she knew for a fact it wasn't at home, but she wasn't curious enough to get up and drill her about it.

"Babe you do know it's ten right? Past time for normal people to get up," Rocky said as he turned back through the door. She simply grunted in response.

Kat chuckled. She wasn't completely surprised to see her cousin still in bed. "You know, if you actually get up and get moving sometime today, I was going to go over to see Ernie for lunch, you both could join me," she called through the open door.

Carri removed the covers from her head as she thought about it for a minute. "I haven't had a Youth Center hamburger in forever. Count me in."

"You do have to get out of bed first," Rocky teased as she stuck her tongue out at him. He ignored her and turned back to Kat. "All you had to do was say lunch and I was there."

Kat heard her cousin get up and walk toward them. "Great then I will go get dressed and we can head over there," Kat said as the yellow ranger appeared in the doorway.

"Sounds like a plan," she replied as she stretched and looked at her cousin, who was dripping water onto the carpet. "What happened to you?"

Kat blushed. "Nothing," she replied as she turned and walked off, making a beeline for her room.

Carri glanced over at Rocky and raised an eyebrow. "Boy what I would like to know what nothing was about."

"Nothing is always something," Rocky said with a smile. He leaned in and gave his girlfriend a kiss. "Good morning."

"Morning," she replied, eagerly returning his affections. "I think I am going to get ready too. Meet you at the Youth Center?" she asked. She knew he was sneaking out to go home. It wasn't like he kept spare items at her Aunt and Uncle's house just in case he spent the night.

"See you then," he said, sneaking in one last kiss before heading downstairs, letting himself out so she could go get ready.

* * *

That morning in the Lunar Palace, everyone was up and planning for their day as well. "It took all night, but I think I have created the potion you were looking for," Finster said as he approached Lord Zedd with a vile.

Zedd snatched it out of his hands. "Well it's about time. Will it work?"

"Of course," Finster replied. He had never given them anything that didn't work. The failure of his creations had more to do with the rangers outsmarting Zedd's ideas than anything.

"Good. Now all we have to do is find a way to administer this to the rangers," Zedd said with a smile as he spied on the teens to try and figure out the next part of his plan.

* * *

Jason and Emily were walking arm in arm through the park. "It's nice to get some time to do this," Emily said. She missed him this past year. Sure they saw each other some, but it was nothing like before he went to college.

"Isn't that the truth," Jason replied as he smiled over at her. It was hard not to have his girlfriend nearby.

"I'm looking forward to the summer. To spending time together," Emily told him. "During the semester I have to wait forever to see you. When you finally get down here it seems like that Lord Ed or whatever is watching so he makes a monster so you're sent away so I'm miserable."

Jason laughed. Emily didn't know how true that statement was. Zedd watched them, he sent monsters down to ruin his weekends home on purpose. "You know he does do that on purpose, but now that it's summer even he can't send monsters down twenty four - seven."

"Is that how much time you're planning on spending with me?" she asked as she smiled at him. It was an unrealistic expectation but it would be nice.

He grinned. He wouldn't see her that often but he did plan on making up for lost time. "Well something like that."

"Are you going to use your apartment at all?" she questioned. He would still technically spend the summer with a Los Angeles address.

"Only if you're coming with me," he said, giving her an unofficial invite to see his apartment whenever she wanted.

"I can't wait for you to show me the city, and to show me where you live. I can't believe all semester and I never got time to go to LA." She wanted to, she thought about it quite a few times once he got the apartment. However between her work schedule and his school schedule they never did find a good time.

"Well you were busy, I was busy," he paused and he looked down at her, "For now, that's behind us."

"Yeah," she said as she looked up at him and smiled. In three months things would change but she would enjoy it while it lasted. "So what do you want to do today?"

"Well, first I was thinking we should go get something for lunch. Then... well if I told you that it would spoil the surprise," Jason told her. He had planned a fun afternoon and he was looking forward to enjoying it with her.

She smiled. "Do I at least get to know what I'm eating?"

"I'll leave that up to you." Lunch he hadn't actually planned out, it didn't matter.

"The easiest thing would be to go by and let Ernie fix us lunch," she pointed out. It would be fast and easy and the food would be good, much better than any actual fast food restaurant.

"To the Youth Center it is then," Jason said. With that, the two headed for their old hang out spot.

* * *

Kat, Rocky and Carri entered the Youth Center around lunchtime. The first thing they saw was two of their friends sitting at a table. "Hey guys!" Kat called out as she waved.

"Hey!" Emily said waving back. It was no surprise to see the three of them walking in there. A year ago this was their full time hang out spot.

The trio went over and sat down with their two friends. "What are you guys up to?" Carri asked.

"Lunch," replied Jason. He was going to leave it at that. He didn't want his friend to pester him about what his surprise for Emily might be.

Rocky nodded. "Same here."

Samantha, one of Emily's friends and fellow waitresses came over to take their orders. Each order was practically the same - a burger, fries and a soft drink. The group relaxed as the waitress went to put their order in.

As she finished putting the order in, she got their drinks. She finished putting all five on a tray and before she had a chance to deliver them, Ernie called her name and Sam walked off.

Once she walked away, Zedd and Rita seized the opportunity and sent Finster down, protected by an invisibility shield spell. Finster stood over the five drinks cups and glanced at the teens. Not knowing whose drink was whose, he poured potion in each of the five cups. He teleported back to the Lunar Palace just as Sam was walking back over toward the drinks. She picked up her tray and delivered the drinks to the table.

"Thanks," Emily said smiling as she took her glass.

"No problem," her friend said as she handed the others their sodas and walked off.

Carri took a big glup of her drink as she looked around the table. "So is everybody ready for the summer?" she asked. She pretty much knew what everyone's plans were but she thought she'd throw it out there just to see what had changed.

"I know I am," Rocky said sipping his drink and leaning back in his seat. "Classes this semester were stressful. I couldn't wait for the semester to be over."

"Same here," Kat agreed. She had taken one too many advanced classes. It was fun, but she was glad to be done.

"Well that's one year down, three to go," Jason pointed out. For the most part they were all taking freshman level classes. It was only going to get worse from here.

"Don't remind me. The only good thing about school is the city," Carri said. Not that there was anything wrong with USC. She liked it a lot, but it was still school. "I mean college, is you know, college. But it's in LA which is absolutely fabulous."

Rocky smiled at her. He didn't know how much of LA she'd actually seen even though she swore she loved the town. "You just like it because everywhere you girls turn there's a place to shop."

She laughed. She certainly wasn't going to deny it. "Just consider that a benefit."

"You girls will have to show me around those LA malls this summer," Emily said. She'd been to the mall in Angel Grove a thousand times. It would be fun to go to one in LA with her friends.

Carri sighed and made a face. "Well if you force our hands I suppose Kim and I could show you around the malls," she said, making eye contact with Emily as both girls giggled.

"I'd like to go too," Kat said. She never went with her cousin anymore. It used to always be the two of them hanging out, but lately it was the former pink ranger Carri was doing all her shopping with. They just never seemed to have a free moment together to hang out. "I still haven't had a chance to really shop in the new part of the mall."

Carri stared at her. She couldn't believe the new part of the mall had been open for three months and Kat hadn't explored it. Of course, if she went with her and Kim instead of Chris, that wouldn't be a problem. "Of course you're welcome to go with us. Anytime we're in the city just give us a call."

"And how often might that be?" questioned Kat. She hadn't directly asked the question although she assumed her cousin would be there more often than not.

She shrugged. "We'll be back and forth I'm sure."

Jason snorted. They could say what they wanted, but they were going to live in LA with the occasional trip to Angel Grove. "If your boys had their own places in the city you probably wouldn't come home at all."

"That's not true," Carri said, catching Jason's disbelieving look. She gave him a sly smile in response. "Maybe a little bit."

Rocky smiled. He knew good and well she'd prefer to stay up there. "Don't worry Jase. We'll just use your place since we don't have one of our own."

"Go ahead. I'm keeping him here with me," Emily said as she reached over and squeezed Jason's arm.

Jason grinned as the others smiled. "Well regardless of where we are, we are definitely all going to have to get together some this summer."

"Absolutely," Kat said and the others nodded in agreement. Despite everybody living in different places, she didn't want them to drift over the summer, only seeing each other to fight bad guys.

The group of five sat there for a few moments talking and drinking their sodas. It didn't take too long for Finster's potion to hit. As it did you could see the smiles on their faces quickly turn to looks of anger. Nobody spoke for a few moments until the waitress delivered their food.

She sat down plates in front of Jason and Emily and then Carri and Rocky, before turning toward Kat and setting a plate down in front of her. "So where is your other half today?" She had met Kat's boyfriend when she was there teaching dancing classes.

Kat started to answer but anything she would have said was drowned out by Carri's snort. "We are better off without the loser dragging the table down. Good riddance I say."

"Excuse me?" Kat said staring her cousin down, her usual kind demeanor long gone.

"Did I stutter?" Carri said with a roll of the eyes. Kat growled at her and she took that as a good reason to continue. "I mean we all know the douchebag is a waste of human space. He does nothing productive and will probably be happy letting someone support his ass the rest of his life. I know one blonde bimbo who is probably dumb enough to do it too."

The waitress muttered something and quickly took off, but nobody at the table was paying attention to her. "Bitch," Kat said as she stared her down. "You're just jealous that you can't find a man to love you the way Chris loves me. It's your fault. You're a rude selfish pain in the ass, and that dumb bastard over there is only sleeping with you because he feels sorry for you," she finished, pointing an accusing finger at the blue ranger.

"Hey!" Rocky exclaimed, not happy with being called a dumb bastard. "First, just because you act all high and mighty doesn't mean you know anything about me. Second it has nothing to do with how sorry I feel, it's because she has a hot body, the same reason that every other guy in Angel Grove wants to screw the whore." He was thinking specifically of Matt hanging out with her the night before as he spoke.

"Oh wouldn't you like to know who wants to screw me," Carri said with venom as she crossed her arms over her chest. If he wanted to dig at her she'd take it and dish it right back. "You only made the cut because I liked your ass but personality wise I can get much more interesting people elsewhere."

Jason snickered and Rocky turned his attention toward the green ranger. "Well we all know the only reason you're friends with the whore is because you want to screw her," he said with a slight laugh. "Which is fine, everybody knows you are eagerly waiting in line for our trash. You got kicked out of the group twice so you happily took Adam's trash when he left it. Now your worthless ass can have mine."

"You're just jealous you aren't half the man I am. Everybody knows that you were a sorry replacement for me in the first place which was why they were so happy to see me return. She should count herself lucky if someone of my caliber was willing to take her pain in the ass self in," Jason replied, letting out a little laugh at the end.

"Oh puh-leese," Carri said with a laugh. "You act like I would want to sleep with you? Even if I had any inclination to put up with your overbearing jerk of a self, I wouldn't touch anything that had been with that worthless skank," she said as she pointed across the table at Emily.

"Well if that's not the pot calling the kettle black," Emily slung back.

"She is right about the worthless part," Kat said with a smile. "I mean you are a year older than us and you have done nothing with your life but be a crappy waitress in a crappy after school hang out."

Emily sat up and snarled. "Well at least I'm doing something with my life other than mooning over my crappy useless boyfriend."

"So we're back to that again?" Kat asked with a laugh. "I'm better than all of you and you know it. That's why you're jealous of him."

"You think you're better than us?" Jason asked, ignoring the girls as they bad-mouthed Chris. "You're a blond bimbo with a poor fucking excuse for a"

"Enough!" Ernie barked as he walked over to the table. This wasn't like them, there had to be some sort of spell involved. He wished he could help them, but he couldn't afford to let this play out any longer. School wasn't out yet so there weren't any kids to overhear their completely inappropriate conversation. However there would be soon and they had to go. "Get out of here, all of you. Now."

"No worries," Carri said, standing and pushing the chair forcibly backwards. It tumbled over and hit the floor, and then she and the others stepped around it on the way out. She walked off to her car and jumped in, starting the engine.

"Hey bitch aren't you going to give us a ride home?" Rocky called out to her. He watched as she threw her middle finger in the air before throwing the car in gear and taking off. He said a few choice words himself before marching off toward his house. Kat, Jason and Emily saw him leave then exchanged one more round of insults, each of them calling the other two names, before taking off in separate directions as well.

* * *

Zedd couldn't control his laughter as he watched the situation at hand. "This is beautiful. Thanks to Finster's potion, those rangers hate each other."

"Now that we've turned them against each other, we can take over the world," Rita said with a laugh. There was no way they'd come together to be rangers. This was perfect.

"What are we waiting for? Let's get started," Zedd said as he turned toward his most trusted lackey. "Goldar!"

Goldar walked over to him. "Yes my lord?"

"Why don't you take some Tengas down to the park and keep them occupied. While you're distracting them, I'll create the perfect monster and send it in to finish those power punks off." Zedd had a monster in mind, he just had to set it up.

Goldar nodded in agreement with Zedd, and then he took off to do his bidding.

* * *

Jason ended up in the park. He wanted to de-stress himself and he knew of no better way to do that than to practice some moves. He hadn't had much time to practice before he found himself surrounded by Tengas.

"Just great," Jason said looking at them. They were the last thing he wanted to deal with. But it might be a good way to take out some aggression. "Ninjetti, cougar!"

With that, the Green cougar Ninjetti appeared and started beating up on the birds.

* * *

Kat had almost made it home when her communicator went off. She didn't want to be bothered with it, but out of habit she answered it anyway. "Go ahead Billy."

"Lord Zedd sent some Tengas to the park," Billy informed her, unaware of what position Zedd put his friends in.

Kat was about to tell Billy to buzz off when it occurred to her that it might be fun to fight Tengas. "On my way," she said. She turned to make sure nobody was around. "Ninjetti, swan!"

* * *

Carri drove her car to a secluded area of the beach. She was sitting on the sand watching the waves come in and wondering why she bothered with such jackass friends when her communicator went off. "Whatever," she said rolling her eyes. Then it went off again.

She wasn't going to answer it. Then again she thought if she had a chance to beat up on something it might be kinda fun. "I'm here," she said, the tone in her voice showing her annoyance.

"You're needed in the park to take out Tengas," Billy said, wondering what was up with the yellow ranger.

She smiled. Tengas were always fun. "Got it," she replied as she stood up. "Ninjetti, panther!"

* * *

Rocky was taking the long way home to walk off some steam. His friends were idiots, he didn't know why he ever started hanging out with them. As he was storming down the road, his communicator went off.

He contemplated not answering it, but he figured he might as well. He was curious to at least know what was going on. "Yes?"

"There are Tengas in the park," Billy told him.

Rocky wasn't sure if he wanted to do it or not. But a good old fashioned Tenga fight might be just what he needed right now. "Got it," he said. He walked off so he couldn't be seen. "Ninjetti, ape!"

* * *

The three Ninjetti's ended up teleported to a different spot from the fight as Jason. They were well into the fight before they knew that the entire group was there. As they finished off the Tengas, they found themselves standing in a huge circle with Goldar in the middle.

"You beat the Tengas," he stated gruffly. "Now allow me to introduce you to Lord Zedd's newest creation," Goldar finished as a monster appeared behind him.

The Ninjetti's glanced at each other, then at the monster. Kat was the first to speak. "Well I certainly wouldn't have come if Billy had told me I had to help you guys out." The last thing she wanted to do was spend time with them.

"Yeah like I wanted to work with you either," Rocky snapped. He thought it was just going to be him against the Tengas. After all he was the best ranger.

"This was my fight and I think I had it handled pretty well. I didn't need you guys," Jason yelled. He was furious at Billy for calling the others. He was Zordon's handpicked first red ranger. He sure as hell didn't need these losers surrounding him.

Carri laughed. "Well in that case he can be your monster too." The Tengas were fun but she was done and she had no intention of helping him.

"Well I certainly don't need your help taking him on. I am the best ranger you know," Jason said as he turned toward her.

"Best my ass," Rocky snapped. "You were booted twice, or have you forgotten that already?"

Goldar laughed. Zedd was right this was working out better than planned. Goldar looked at the monster and nodded. The monster laughed as he fired at the rangers, who were no longer paying him any attention. The Ninjetti's were thrown off of their feet and they hit the ground hard.

* * *

In the Power Chamber, three figures watched the fight with concern. "Aye ai ai, what's going on down there?" asked Alpha.

"I don't know. They should have morphed by now," Billy said as he watched the fight. He saw the Ninjetti's get attacked and hit the ground. They got back up and were attacked once more. Billy saw a lot of finger pointing, and then the yellow Ninjetti disappeared. Something was definitely not right.

"Where did she go?" asked Alpha as he started to worry.

"I don't," Billy paused as the red and purple Ninjetti's disappeared also. "Let me run a scan for them."

Billy quickly went over to the console and started working. A few minutes later he had the location of the other rangers. "I... I don't believe this. Kat's at home, Rocky's taking a walk and Carri's on the beach."

"Something must not be right Billy," Zordon pointed out. The rangers were pointing fingers instead of fighting. He was fairly certain Zedd interfered.

Billy took a glance at the fight, and saw the Green Zeo Ranger taking on the monster. One lonely Zeo ranger was having no luck in battle. Billy sighed. He knew what he needed to do. Jason was going to get himself killed out there. With the push of a few buttons, the Zeo Ranger was in the Power Chamber.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Jason asked throwing off his helmet. "I was handling that monster just fine."

"You were losing," Billy pointed out. That monster was too strong for him to handle by himself.

"Losing? You may think you're smart, but you know nothing about battle. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a monster to destroy." With that, Jason put his helmet back on and teleported himself back to battle.

Billy was baffled. Zordon was right, something wasn't right here. Billy knew he needed to figure this out quickly. His first instinct was to get the other three rangers to the Power Chamber. Of course, they could just teleport out as well. That's why he jammed their communicators first.

Flashes of blue, yellow and pink light came streaming in followed by the rangers. "Who do you think you are to just pull people from their homes and bring them here?" asked Kat as she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.

Carri was the first person to try and hit her communicator, but with no luck. "That is totally not fair. Like I want to be stuck here with any of you assholes."

Rocky rolled his eyes. "Like I want to spend my afternoon with the slut and the bimbo."

"Bimbo?" Kat repeated, knowing that she couldn't be the slut. "Well I"

"Maybe you should scan the rangers," Billy whispered to Alpha as he turned to them. "Hey!" he yelled as Kat started to speak. Everyone snapped their attention towards him. "What do you guys think you're doing arguing like this? You guys are best friends."

"Like I would want to be best of friends with either of them," Kat said. Someone like her should have way better friends than that.

"I don't think too highly of you either," Rocky said. Carri nodded. Rocky looked at her. "And the same goes for you."

Billy sighed as Alpha walked over to him. "Maybe it has to do with the spell Lord Zedd has you under."

Carri rolled her eyes and glared at the little robot. "Spell? Please. We would know if we were under a spell. We are the Power Rangers you know."

"Then why don't you start acting like it," Billy snapped, giving her a look. He didn't know if he could shake some sense into them but he would sure like to try.

"Jeeze man what crawled up your ass this morning?" Rocky asked. There was another one of his idiot friends at work.

Billy ignored him and turned to Alpha. "Come on, let's figure out how to reverse this." Billy and Alpha walked out of the main room to start working on a potion to cancel the effects of the original potion.

The other rangers looked around the Power Chamber. None of them wanted to be there. They took a look at the fight down below that Billy had been watching earlier. "I told him he wasn't the best," Rocky said as Jason was taking a beating.

Kat sighed as she leaned on a console. "This blows."

"Rangers you must stay here until Billy finds an antidote. Then you can help Jason," Zordon said looking at them. He wasn't sure how much of their normal personalities weren't affected by the spell. It didn't seem like they cared at all about each other, or helping fight Zedd.

"Help him? Yeah right," Carri said as she looked at the console. "I'm getting out of here." Quickly she took her communicator off and threw it towards the wall. The others heard it hit the floor and skid to a stop. "Tell nerd boy I'm not as stupid as he may think I am," she said as she hit a few buttons and teleported off.

Rocky and Kat looked at each other. "Slut actually got something right," Rocky said as he threw down his communicator. Kat quickly followed. Rocky then teleported himself out with Kat not too far behind.

* * *

Ten minutes later Billy walked back in with a box full of syringes, prepared to administer an antidote. To his surprise, there was nobody there. "Zordon where did everybody go?" he asked.

"I am afraid they teleported themselves out," Zordon replied. Nothing he could have said or done would have stopped them.

Billy sighed as he quickly went over and hit a few buttons. To his surprise, three flashes of light went from one side of the room to the other. Billy looked down at their communicators. He couldn't help but smile. "That was my fault. I thought with the spell... I didn't give them enough credit."

"Do not blame yourself Billy. What is important now is that we find the others. I am afraid Jason may not last much longer by himself down there," Zordon said. He agreed with the former ranger's tactic. They had no idea what the rangers would or wouldn't be able to do in the state they were in.

"Right," Billy agreed. He thought for a moment. He wasn't completely sure how to find them. Then it hit him. One of the rangers always made herself easy to find. He went to a panel and started a scan. A few moments later, a light blinked blue and yellow. "Gotcha," he said as he teleported her in.

As the light flashed in, Carri shot Billy a look. "Dammit Billy why"

Billy cut her off by jumping on her and taking her down. The surprised yellow ranger went to throw him off of her, but not before he stuck her arm with a needle and quickly emptied the antidote into her blood stream. As the duo stood, she punched him in the face. "Billy how," her voice trailed off as she paused and made a face. A few seconds later her eyes grew large. "Billy I'm so sorry I didn't mean to"

"Don't worry about it," Billy said. He didn't need to hear an apology for something that wasn't entirely her fault. "What you need to do now is teleport down to the park. When you get there, I'll teleport Jason up and give him the antidote, then send him back down with you."

"Easy enough. I think we owe Zedd's crew an ass kicking anyway," she said smiling. She was ready to do this. "It's morphin time! Zeo ranger II, yellow!"

In a flash of yellow light she was gone. Billy glanced back to the fight. He saw her surprise Goldar and the monster as she attacked. Billy had to quickly teleport Jason up as he looked as though he was getting ready to go after her.

Jason threw his helmet off and chucked it across the ground. "What the hell are you doing? That was my fight and you don't need to send her in there. I can handle it better than any ranger out there."

Billy took a syringe and put it behind his back. He knew he probably couldn't take Jason down as easily, especially since he would have to get the needle in his neck, the only exposed part of him at the moment. He walked over to the green ranger. "I brought you back to give you more power. Look," Billy said as he spoke he walked Jason off, making sure he was in front of him. Then Billy quickly used the syringe to give him the antidote. As soon as it was empty, Billy hit the floor to keep from getting hit a second time.

"You were lucky that time. But I won't miss twice," Jason said as he thought about swinging at Billy again. Luckily for Billy, a thought was all it amounted to as the antidote kicked in. "Man that was rough."

"I think you have a fight to get back to," Billy reminded him. "I'll search for the last two rangers, and as soon as their free from the spell, I'll send them down to help."

"Got it. Back to action!" Jason yelled teleporting away.

Billy looked at the Power Chamber controls and frowned. He wasn't exactly sure how to find the last two rangers. He thought for a moment then he smiled. He had recently rigged up a device that kept the coordinates of the last dozen or so teleportation's. At the time he wasn't sure how much use he would have with that, but now he knew. Quickly he walked over to the console and did a print out.

Billy looked at the top of the sheet. It wouldn't specifically say which ranger teleported, but it would say where they teleported to. That should be enough for him to track the others. The last recorded teleportation was to the fight. That was him teleporting Jason. The one before that was to the Power Chamber, which was Jason again. Then there were two for Carri, one into the Power Chamber and one to the fight. The two before that he wasn't sure of, but the one before that was where he had found Carri. He knew those two unknowns must be the location of the other rangers.

He put in the coordinates of the one immediately following Carri's departure. As he scanned the area, he saw Rocky walking around. Billy smiled. "Alpha I'm teleporting Rocky in. We're going to have to get him the antidote quickly and get him out onto the field with the others."

"Right," Alpha agreed as the blue ranger appeared in front of them.

"What the hell is going on here? How did you," Rocky never finished asking the second question as the little robot shocked him. Rocky turned down to look at him. "What do you think you're doing?"

Seeing that Rocky was distracted, Billy seized the moment to give him the antidote. Billy quickly ran over there and stuck him with a needle, pushing the serum into his veins. As Billy finished, Rocky shoved him down and turned his attention towards him.

"How dare you," he growled. "You'll pay for that Billy," he said as he started to walk over to him. After a few steps, he paused and looked at his friend. "Oh man. I can't believe"

"There's no time to dwell. Jason and Carri are getting handled by that monster you guys left in the park," Billy informed him. They couldn't deal with anything that happened at the moment. There would be time for that later.

Rocky nodded. "It's morphin time! Zeo ranger III, blue!"

Billy watched as the blue ranger jumped into the fight. The battle just got a little bit easier on the two rangers. Now to get Kat into the fight. Billy plugged in the second set of coordinates. He looked for her and found her sitting on her couch reading a magazine. Billy smiled as he teleported her in.

Kat looked at Billy and rolled her eyes. "Look I don't care about the monster, I'm not going to help fight it and you can just"

Billy silenced her by attacking her much like he did Carri earlier. He took her down quickly and gave her the antidote.

Kat pushed him away and slowly stood up. "What are you trying to do to me?"

"Trust me Kat it's for your own good."

"Billy you are sadly mistaken," Kat said. But before she could do anything the antidote hit. "That was awful!" she exclaimed, unable to believe some of the things that were said that afternoon.

"Fortunately the antidote worked. Now, you need to get down and help your friends out," Billy told her.

"Of course," Kat replied. "It's morphin time! Zeo ranger I, pink!"

Billy smiled as he turned to watch the fight and saw all four rangers in battle. Now he only hoped that they could defeat the monster without him having to call Tommy and ruin his vacation. They were all desperate for the red ranger's experiment to work but this monster was tough and only time would tell.

* * *

Goldar looked on in disbelief as the last of the rangers' teleported in. Zedd was not going to be happy. "This can't be. You're all supposed to hate each other."

Rocky smiled from behind his helmet. "Fortunately for Angel Grove, Billy reminded us of why we're all friends."

"No matter we will still defeat you!" Goldar roared as he and the monster charged.

The monster fired as he ran. The four rangers rolled out of the way. As they jumped up, they all called for their weapons and attacked, pushing both Goldar and Zedd's monster back. "I don't know about you guys, but I think the four of us need to make short work of this moron," Carri suggested. It had been an interesting afternoon and she didn't want to deal with this reject from the loser squad any longer than she had to.

"That's the best idea I've heard all day," Jason replied. He still had a girlfriend to cure then take out on a date.

"We need the Zeo Cannon now!" Rocky yelled as the weapon appeared in the hands of the four rangers.

Goldar quickly moved out of the way and tried to urge the monster to do the same thing. The monster didn't listen and was thrown back by the blast of the Zeo Cannon. He wasn't down long though, as Rita and Zedd quickly made him grow.

"I hate it when they do that," griped Kat. She didn't feel like dealing with the city sized monster, not after their lunch, but she shouldn't be surprised that Rita and Zedd went in that direction.

"Yeah, well," Rocky replied. At the very least it was a chance to play with their zords. "We need Super Zeo Zord power now!"

The Power Rangers jumped into their Super Zeo Zords, and with the help of Billy in the Power Chamber they formed the Super Zeo Megazord. As usual, it didn't take long for the Super Zeo Megazord to take down the enemy.

As the rangers hit the ground, they saw Goldar and Rito standing there surrounded by Tengas. "This fight isn't over yet rangers." Goldar growled.

"Then I guess we'll just have to finish it," Carri said with a smile as the rangers attacked.

Goldar led his team into the fight. He knew that the yellow ranger was probably right, but Zedd was so furious about his perfect plan gone wrong that he had sent Rito along with more Tengas to the surface to help the fight. He was hoping to make something out of this disaster. Goldar shook his head as he ran straight for the green ranger. He had hated Jason long before Tommy ever entered the picture.

"I hate to tell you Goldar but this is one fight you're not going to win," Jason said as they engaged in battle.

Rito left those two be and took the Tengas, going after the other three rangers. "You guys are history," he said as he went to attack.

Rocky jumped in front of him and pushed him back. "I believe that's what you said last time."

"These guys aren't even a challenge anymore," Carri said as she whipped through some Tengas. It was becoming like a sparring workout.

Kat smiled as she tossed some aside. "No kidding."

A few minutes into the fight, the Tengas, who were tired of getting kicked around the battlefield, fled. Carri ran to take a shot at Goldar, and Kat took hers at Rito. "Hey Goldie ya miss me?" she asked knocking him back.

Goldar made a face as he saw the yellow ranger standing there. He turned and saw Rito with the blue and pink rangers. "You may have won this time rangers, but believe me when I say that Lord Zedd with attack again and he will be victorious."

With that, Goldar teleported off. Rito turned to see that he had left, and he quickly departed as well. The rangers looked at each other and smiled as they teleported back to the Power Chamber.

* * *

"Good job guys," Billy greeted them, glad to see that his antidote worked and that his friends were back to normal.

"Good job yourself," Jason said as he smiled at their friend. He pointed to the empty syringes. "I hope you made one more of those."

Billy held one up. "For Emily?" he questioned although he already knew the answer. She had caused a ruckus while the rangers were battling, taking a baseball bat and leaving a huge dent in the side of Jason's car. The Power Chamber's sensors picked up the attack and immediately the alarm went off as it registered the human under Zedd's spell.

"Yeah. Maybe we should go down and grab her and," Jason started to speak but was cut off.

"We have to be careful. We can't just go down and stick her with a needle in public and hope for the best," Carri pointed out. Emily may not be a martial artist but she used to run with a bad group. She knew how to scream and draw attention and fight.

"Which is why I was thinking that maybe we should just catch her when she's alone and teleport her here," Billy replied. It wouldn't be hard to give Emily the antidote once they had her in the Power Chamber.

"Here? As in the Power Chamber?" asked Kat, raising an eyebrow and looking at the others. It was one thing her accidentally finding out who the rangers were. It was another to bring her there. This was their central command.

"She does know our identity. If we try to give her the antidote when she's alone in public, she could start screaming and attract attention. We don't want Jason to go to jail," Billy pointed out. Not only could he be accused of physically abusing her, but if he got caught putting a needle in her arm they'd accuse him of drugging her or worse.

The rangers turned to Zordon. Ultimately it was his decision to make. "You know I do not like outsiders in the Power Chamber. However I agree with Billy, we need to make an exception in this case."

"Well then what are you waiting for?" asked Rocky. They needed to get the last person free of the spell.

Billy nodded as he turned to find Emily. He had the sensors keep an eye on her whereabouts ever since the incident with Jason's car. It didn't take long to get her location. At the moment she was completely alone so he teleported her to the Power Chamber.

"What the hell is going on here?" Emily asked as she looked around. She glared at the four rangers. "You assholes think you can just bring me here whenever you want to? I don't think so I want to go back now," she growled. She had three other cars she was about to put good sized dents in.

"Emily this is for your own good," Jason said as he moved swiftly toward her and grabbed her arms, holding her tightly and allowing Billy to give her the antidote.

Emily started to squirm, trying to figure out how to get free and pay them back for this. "What are you putting in me? Let me go or I'll" She didn't finish her sentence as the antidote started to take over. She blinked a few times and looked around, suddenly realizing what was going on. "Am I... am I in your Power Chamber?"

Jason smiled. "This would be the place." It was kind of cool that he was getting to take her here, even if the conditions weren't ideal.

"Wow. So then that anger thing that was just a spell?" she asked, feeling horrible about everything she said and did. The others nodded. "Oh man... you guys I'm sorry for everything I"

"Don't worry about it," Rocky cut her off. It wasn't the first time they'd gone through something like that.

"Yeah trust me with evil around, we've done plenty of things to each other that really shouldn't have to be apologized for. This is one of them," Carri told her. Bad guys liked spells. They always backfired, and it usually left them with a series of crazy things they did that they had to atone for.

Zordon looked at the young woman standing in front of him. "I know why Jason was forced to tell you who we were. I trust that you understand the importance of never revealing to anybody what you know or what you have seen."

Emily nodded. No matter what she could never do that to Jason, to her friends. "I promise to keep your secret."

Zordon nodded, satisfied with her answer. He wasn't worried when Jason and Carri revealed themselves to her. He had been watching her ever since she started a relationship with the original red ranger. He thought they could trust her.

The rangers looked around the room. "So now that this crisis is over with, are you ready to go out?" Carri asked Rocky. She felt bad about the things she said, she wanted to make it up to him.

"Absolutely," he replied. Although everyone knew it was the spell talking, he felt worse than she did about the things he threw her way.

"Are we still going out?" asked Emily as she turned toward Jason. It was weird, she didn't know if they just went back to normal after something like this.

Jason smiled. Having to pause to deal with Zedd didn't change what he had planned for Emily. "A little kink in the afternoon certainly did not ruin our entire day."

Carri looked at her friends. They all should get together at some point. Spend time with each other that doesn't involve slinging insults. "I have an idea. How about later tonight, we can all hook up and go out."

"That would be fun," Emily said as Jason nodded his head in agreement.

"Did you have anything in mind?" asked Rocky. If she asked, he wouldn't be surprised if she had an idea.

She smiled. "Me and Kim found this really great club in the city that you guys have got to see." They had gone one night that the boys had taken off for Angel Grove. They had a fantastic time and wanted to share it with the others.

"You and Kim? How do I know it's going to be any good?" Jason joked as he gave her a look.

Carri rolled her eyes as she looked at her cousin, not bothering to dignify that with a response. "You in?"

Kat smiled and shook her head no. "I was thinking about going to Bakersfield." Kat noticed Carri try and restrain from saying anything. She didn't need to, Kat knew what she was thinking. But if Chris was really going to leave, well she wanted to spend as much time with him as she could.

"Well anyway, we'll see the rest of you guys tonight," Carri said. She couldn't say anything about Chris. Besides she was pretty sure she got it all out that afternoon. Even though she had been harsh, there was some truth in what she said about Chris. She simply forced a smile in her cousin's direction then said her goodbyes before her and Rocky teleported out. Kat smiled and followed.

Jason turned to his girlfriend. "You ready?" he asked. She nodded. Jason had her grab a hold of him as he teleported both of them out.

* * *

The next morning Jason emerged out of his apartment bedroom and stretched. He walked into the living room to find Rocky in front of the TV. "Good morning," he greeted the blue ranger.

Rocky looked up. "Morning," he replied. Rocky looked down at himself. He was wearing a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt that he borrowed from Jason. He hadn't planned on spending the night in LA last night, none of them had. The club Carri and Kim found had turned out to be excellent and they didn't leave until the early hours in the morning. They were too tired to drive all the way home, so Carri gave Emily something to sleep in and Jason did the same with Rocky, and they stayed in the apartment.

Jason sat down on the other end of the couch and looked at his friend. "Billy take off already?"

Rocky nodded. "I didn't know he got up so early in the morning." Billy had gone out with them and only stayed for an hour, saying he had things to do today. He didn't know that he got up at the crack of dawn to go help Zordon.

"He likes to keep things running. I didn't realize how dedicated he was either until I started living with him," Jason paused for a moment, "Besides, I think he wants to work really hard right now to get some things done so he can go visit Trini."

"I'm glad those two found each other," Rocky said. He wanted to see Billy happy, and he and the other rangers never thought Cestria would be it. Jason nodded his head in agreement.

A door down the hallway slowly crept open. Carri walked through, rubbing her eyes and stretching. She appeared in the living room and smiled at the boys. "I didn't know you could get up before noon," Rocky joked, noticing the sleepy haze that still surrounded her.

She smiled as she sat down in between them on the couch. "Oh hush," she said as she curled up next to Rocky. She wasn't awake enough yet to come up with a good comeback.

Rocky put an arm around her. "Morning."

"Good morning," she returned with a kiss before she looked over at Jason. "Em still asleep?"

"I was until everybody started making so much noise," a voice said. Emily appeared from the hallway and went over and squeezed on the end of the couch beside Jason. She gave him a kiss which he smiled and returned. "So what is everybody up to today?" she asked.

"I have to work this afternoon," Rocky said. It was a bummer but he needed the money. He'd much rather spend time with everyone.

Emily nodded, finding herself in the same boat as the blue ranger. "Me too."

Carri looked over at Jason with a mischievous grin on her face. "Does that mean we can go cause trouble?"

Jason laughed at her. He stopped when he heard the click of the door lock. All four teens looked up as the door opened and Kim and Tommy walked through. Carri turned around and got on her knees, leaning over the back of the couch. "Hey guys!" she exclaimed, glad to see her best friend returning.

"Hey!" Kim said back as she waved to everyone before walking over and giving her friend a hug. "You guys miss me?"

"We all missed you, but I think Carri missed you the most because she didn't have anybody to go break the bank with," teased Rocky as he turned and greeted Kim with a hug as well.

"Good thing we came back then," Kim said with a smile as she hugged the rest of their friends.

Tommy walked over to say hello to everyone, giving Carri a hug as well. The yellow ranger then turned around in her seat as their two friends came and sat down on the floor in front of them. "So how was your vacation?" asked Jason.

"It was amazing," Tommy replied. They had a fantastic time together and they were both thrilled to have been able to take off for a few days. Kim grinned and nodded in agreement. Tommy looked at the others. "How was it here?"

"Boring," Carri was quick to reply. Jason and Rocky smiled at her and she shrugged. It really was boring, to her anyway. There was one Tenga fight right after they left, then yesterday's monster and spell which hardly made a dent in their day.

"No monster attacks?" asked Tommy. He'd actually seen the news report last night, he knew there was at least one. However nobody contacted him, he assumed all had gone as expected.

"Nothing we couldn't handle," Rocky replied. Which was good, it meant he and Carri could plan a vacation.

Jason smiled. "Don't forget bro, we are the power rangers," he added. If they weren't as good as they were, Tommy wouldn't have been able to leave in the first place.

"So are you guys ready to hang out today?" asked Kim. "It's supposed to be absolutely gorgeous today and we thought there was no better way to spend a perfect day than fun in the sun with our friends." They talked about it on the way home. They wanted to try and spend their first day back hanging out with the others.

Carri smiled. "Do you really think you have to convince me, of all people, of that?" Kim knew her well, she knew she was the one they wouldn't have to ask.

Jason rolled his eyes and turned to Kim. "What she's saying is that the two of us are in, but these two have to work," he said pointing to Rocky and Emily.

"That's too bad," Tommy replied. He was hoping they could get everyone together.

Rocky nodded. He'd love to waste time hanging on the beach with the others. However they had three months ahead of them for beach going. "Fortunately, they'll be plenty of time for that this summer."

"Absolutely," Kim replied with a smile. "Why don't we get ready then and take off?"

"Sounds good to me," Carri said bouncing up, the sleepy demeanor from a few minutes ago gone. Rocky chuckled and she looked back at him and smiled.

"I need to go anyway to make it back and get ready for work," Rocky said as he stood. Emily echoed his sentiments and the two of them said their goodbyes to everyone. Once they were gone, the others headed off to get ready for a beach day.

* * *

Late that night the pink and yellow Ninjetti found themselves sitting alone on the couch in Kat's Angel Grove living room. They had spent the entire day on the beach, then they drove back to Angel Grove where Rocky and Emily, along with Kat who had been spending alone time with her boyfriend all day, joined them for a late dinner.

The couples split off after dinner and Kim and Carri were the first ones to make it back to the house, where they proceeded to sit on the couch and catch up. They had been chattering on and on about their last few days, finally coming full circle back to that night.

"I'm glad everyone could make it for dinner," Kim commented. They had a blast on the beach, and when Rocky and Emily got off of work at the same time they thought it would be fun to continue the party at dinner. Kat, who declined the invite to the beach, made it out to dinner although her boyfriend was absent. "Too bad Kat had to go solo."

Carri snorted, and when she caught Kim's eyes and realized she wasn't at all disappointed about not seeing Kat's other half, she gave a half smile. "Well she's with him now. I think she didn't want to bring him around after everything I said yesterday."

"Well," Kim paused and made a face. Jason filled her in on exactly what Carri called Chris. Kat brought it up at dinner as she hadn't really talked to anybody since. She apologized specifically for some things, and while the others chimed in with apologies of their own, all Carri said was sorry for calling you a bimbo. "You haven't exactly apologized for anything you said about Chris."

"I didn't see Emily slinging around that apology either," Carri pointed out. Emily had been the only other one saying really horrible things about Chris and she never specifically apologized for that. Of course she never specifically apologized for anything, just telling everyone sorry that she felt bad, and they all cut her off. When the rangers apologized to each other, they were more joking as they were all too familiar with spells and understood that nobody meant what they said.

Except for what Carri said about Chris. It was weird, but that afternoon at the beach they had come up with a theory. The spell was to make them hate everybody. Carri already hated Chris, and all the spell would have done was intensify those feelings. While some of what she said was harsher than reality, it was still true to an extent. "Besides I'm not going to apologize because then she will know I didn't mean those things, which is a lie. I only say I'm sorry if I mean it."

Kim sighed. She actually agreed with a bit of what Carri had said, but she would never ever utter that in front of Kat. The pink ranger was really happy in her relationship and she wasn't going to judge. Besides they were only nineteen, there was plenty of room still for him to grow up. The rangers did it early, they were forced to. Chris has spent most of the last two decades leading his spoiled life in Bakersfield.

"Don't," Carri said, warning Kim not to judge her. "You know I'm right." Kim frowned and nodded and Carri continued. "Anyway, right now she thinks I was just under the spell so I wouldn't worry about it."

"What if she asks you?" Kim questioned. Whether Carri was right or wrong, if Kat asked she would have to deny it. If the pink ranger officially knows her cousin and teammate thinks that poorly of her boyfriend, it will put a huge strain on the team.

"She won't," Carri assured her. She knew her cousin. Kat may be pissed off at her, but unlike Carri she was going to avoid the confrontation. Especially if she had a feeling that Carri was going to give an answer she wouldn't like.

"Fine," Kim said, not about to argue with her. Hopefully Carri was right; if not then hopefully she had enough sense to keep her mouth shut if it came up again. "I'm not going to worry about it. As long as Kat's happy we should pretend to be happy and see where it goes."

"You're right," Carri surprised her by agreeing with her. She was going to pretend to be happy. After yesterday she was certain that her cousin knew how she really felt. Eventually she would open up her eyes and see Chris for who he was, leaving him for someone better. Chris was Tommy's rebound, this wouldn't last forever. "I have better things to concern myself with right now. Like what mall we are going to spend tomorrow at."

"Mall?" Kim asked, her eyes lighting up. She liked the sound of that. "We could put names in a hat and pick," she joked. The two girls laughed, all worries about Kat and whether or not Chris was good for her forgotten for now. For now it was time for some good old fashioned girl fun.


	24. Pink Dilemma: Part One

**Disclaimer:** As usual, all things PR belong to Saban, Callisto and any of her friends mentioned re property of Universal and everyone else is mine :)

Ranger Scrolls  
"Pink Dilemma"  
Part One

It had been a hot late June afternoon and Kat just finished teaching special dance sessions with some of her students. They were trying out for a summer dance theater production and she promised to help. As she left the Youth Center and drove home, she found herself lost in her thoughts.

She was thinking about the summer, which so far had been uneventful. She hadn't even had the opportunity to take a vacation. Her ex-boyfriend had gone out of town for a week the previous month, and her cousin just got back from taking her boyfriend to their family home in Australia for a week. Kat sighed. She would like to go home to visit. There are family and friends there she hasn't seen in a long time. Of course most of the family her age no longer lived there; they had taken off for college. Still, she would like to take her boyfriend. They had been talking about taking a vacation, but it wouldn't be to Australia. They were going to stay in the states. At the moment they were looking at spending a few days in San Francisco, seeing the sites that she hadn't had a chance to see since she'd been in the country.

She smiled as she thought of her boyfriend. She loved him more than she knew how to say. The others... they didn't understand, especially her cousin. To be honest, she didn't expect them to. They all had each other, and she sometimes felt as though all she had was him. Maybe it was her fault. After all, nobody said they hated her when it happened. When she broke her ex's heart. After that it got weird. She tried to hang out with the rangers, but everything seemed so... different.

Maybe it was because of her, or her boyfriend, or her and him. She sighed. Maybe she just couldn't be a part of this group anymore. After all, the only reason she was so easily accepted is because of what she knew. The yellow ranger was her best friend, but she wasn't so sure about that anymore. Of course, she did have a real best friend among the team once, until her friend moved to New York.

Kat frowned as she walked up to her parents' mailbox and emptied it. As she headed into the house, one envelope in particular caught her eye. She dropped the rest of the mail and held the one in her hand. Her hands were shaking badly, and she didn't know if she could open it. She took a deep breath. She knew she had to know what was inside. Carefully she opened the envelope and pulled the letter out. As she read it, a smile spread across her face. She pulled the letter towards her chest and paused for a moment to think about what it meant. It was what she had been waiting for, what she had wanted. She neatly folded it up and put it in her pocket. Then she rushed upstairs looking for her phone so she could plan to meet with her boyfriend to tell him the news.

* * *

Lord Zedd stood in his throne room. He was unsure of his next move. Everything he had done had failed. He needed - he needed to do something, to change something. He was never going to conquer Earth at the rate he was moving.

A figure materialized in his throne room, ripping him out of his thoughts. He looked over at her. She was the last person he had expected to see here. "I heard you were chasing those Astro Rangers. What are you doing here?"

She glared at him. "I got one of them and the other - well let's just say I had to take a break." She was not going to get into the details of that mission with him. It was none of his business.

"Take a break? So you've decided to come back and pester the rangers of Earth? My rangers?" he questioned. He let her do it, only because she was crazy and powerful. However he wasn't thrilled at all to see her show up. This was his fight, he didn't want her interrupting.

"In chasing those space rangers a thought occurred to me. Maybe I was doing it all wrong before. Maybe I should get a sidekick, someone who knows those rangers better than me. Someone the rangers let kill them before the rangers ever hurt them," she explained. It was brilliant and she didn't know why she didn't think about it before.

Zedd laughed at the absurdity of her idea. "And what exactly do you plan on doing? Asking one of their friends?"

The woman rolled her eyes. If he didn't get where she was going then he was dumber than she thought. "People are born with a certain capacity of evil. You know that as well as I. Your wife's green ranger failed simply because any decedent of Hercules wouldn't be able to be evil. If Xena hadn't devoted the end of her life to doing good deeds, well her decedent might have potential."

Zedd frowned. None of the rangers were born with a capacity for evil, which was why they were Zordon's pets. "All of those goody-two-shoes rangers have ancestors who are good hearted. How is this going to get you anywhere?"

"How quickly you forget," she said with a smile. "Not all of the rangers' ancestors were good. Well... I suppose I was good once, before Xena ruined it. Now my capacity for evil is great as well as that of anyone else in my line. That's why Kat worked out so well for you before, and why she will work out just as well for me."

"What makes you think that the others just won't turn her back to good again?" he asked. She was underestimating Kat's potential for evil. If it was there it would have taken more than her usual good nature to overcome Rita's spell.

"Just watch," she replied. She had the magic key, this would be perfect. With a slightly crazy laugh she was off to Earth to capture her victim.

* * *

Kat smiled as she finished getting ready. She was supposed to meet her boyfriend in Angel Grove Park soon. She told him they needed to talk. He had asked if it was bad. She assured him it wasn't. It was fabulous news, but she wasn't going to tell him that over the phone. She was going to leave him guessing a while.

One last check of her hair and she took off down the stairs. She stopped dead in her tracks as a figure was standing there waiting for her. "What do you want Callisto?" she asked, shifting into fighting stance as she spoke.

Callisto smiled at her. The answer was quite obvious. "You."

Kat stood there frozen for a moment, but as the goddess lunged at her she managed to dive out of the way. Kat saw her pick herself back up, and she knew what she needed to do. "It's morphin time! Zeo Ranger"

Callisto hit her hard, cutting her off mid sequence. Kat gasped as the Zeo Crystal that gave her all of her power hit the floor. Callisto smiled as she picked up the crystal. She looked at Kat. "You'll never be able to use that!" Kat yelled.

"Oh don't worry, I don't want to use it," she said walking over to Kat and grabbing her roughly. "I want you to. Just not yet."

"What are you doing to me?" Kat asked, trying to break free of the goddess's grasp.

Callisto laughed at her pathetic attempt to squirm away from her. The pink ranger was all hers now and she was going to have some fun. "You'll see," she assured her as she teleported the two of them off.

* * *

Chris sat on a bench in Angel Grove Park waiting for his girlfriend to arrive. She had sounded so excited on the phone. She had said she needed to talk to him, but this didn't sound like an "I'm going to break up with you" speech. He couldn't wait to find out what she had to say.

He sat there for a while. Every few minutes he would check his watch. She was late. She was never usually late. He picked up his phone and called her. No answer. He dialed her parents' house phone as well, but there was still no answer.

He didn't think he had to be nervous, but yet he was. He didn't know who to call, who to talk to if he needed to know if Kat was in trouble or not. Sure she had friends before they met, but he didn't have a way to contact them. Not that any of them kept up with her daily life anymore anyway. He wasn't sure if she had pushed them away, or they had pushed her. Either way, she said they didn't hang out like they used to.

Chris sighed as he checked his watch yet another time. He wasn't going to give her much longer before he would just have to go to her house looking for her.

* * *

Kat found herself in a cage in the desert. She saw her Zeo shard sitting nearby, on top of some sort of machine. She wasn't quite sure yet what was going on. Callisto had disappeared for the moment, although, she would be back to take her away. That was the only thing she was certain of. Callisto told her what her plan was. She was setting up some sort of area that she was going to take Kat to in order to make her evil. Then and only then would she give her the Zeo shard back, turning the crystal evil and forcing her to use it to kill her friends.

Kat found herself fighting back tears. She could never do that. She still cared about them, regardless of how she felt things were going now. She knew she had to get a message to somebody. She pulled her communicator to her mouth. "Tommy?" she said but got no answer. "Jason? Rocky? Carri?" she said trying everybody. She thought she heard someone answer her back but there was so much static she could hardly tell. She decided to go ahead and speak anyway. "I've been captured by Callisto. I'm in a cave in Angel Grove desert. Callisto's gone, but she will be back for me. She's going to make me evil. You guys don't have long. I need to you rescue me, or at least get my Zeo shard away from her."

Kat sighed as she leaned against the bars of her cage. She had hoped a rescue team would be there soon.

* * *

Kim found herself in the passenger seat in a yellow mustang convertible, her best friend Carri driving. The girls were coming home from LA, where they attended school and shared an apartment with two other friends. They spent the last two days there, and were going to Angel Grove to see their boyfriends.

As the girls drove past the desert, they heard a noise. It wasn't just any noise, it was the familiar beep of Carri's communicator. Carri pulled the car off to the side of the road. "Go ahead," she said.

The message they got back was full of static, and they could hardly make out all the words. But they defiantly got the gist of it. "...captured by Callisto... cave in Angel Grove desert... Callisto's gone... will be back... make me evil... don't have long... rescue me... get my Zeo..."

The two girls looked at each other. Carri held her communicator to her mouth. "Tommy come in," she said but got no response. She then tried Rocky, Jason and Alpha, but the results were the same. "Looks like we'll have to do this on our own."

Kim nodded, prepared to run out there and fight as a Ninjetti. "I just hope we can find her in time."

The girls hopped out of the car. "It's morphin time!" Carri yelled but nothing happened. She frowned but didn't dwell on it, deciding to join Kim who was getting ready to transform as well.

"Ninjetti, crane!"

"Panther!"

The two Ninjetti's looked at each other and took off through the desert. They had no idea where they were going, or what they were looking for. As they ran through the desert, Kim finally spotted something. She grabbed Carri's arm and spun her around. "Look, Tengas."

"That must be where she's got Kat," Carri replied. There was no other reason for Rita and Zedd's birds to be out in the middle of nowhere.

The two girls ran down and engaged the Tengas. As usual they weren't difficult opponents, and the Ninjetti had them defeated within minutes. They saw the cave that the birds had been guarding so closely and they ran over to it and went inside.

"Kat we're going to get you out of here," Carri said as she immediately spotted her cousin sitting in a cage. Carri ran over to it looking for a lock that they could try and break.

Kim quickly picked up Kat's Zeo shard and ran to join Carri. "What's the verdict?"

"I don't know how to get into this cage. There is no door," Carri said. She glanced briefly back at the machine that Callisto left the Zeo Shard on. The cage didn't look like it was being mechanically held together, but it was entirely possible there was a release switch over there somewhere.

"We have to move fast because she'll be back any second," Kim said. She didn't really want to come face to face with Callisto as a Ninjetti.

"Too late," Callisto said as she appeared in the room. She was surprised to see them here, she thought her machine did a good job of scrambling their communication signals. The yellow ranger wasn't in her Zeo uniform, she supposed it did one thing right.

Carri glared at the goddess before looking briefly at Kim. "I'll distract her."

Kim nodded as Carri ran over to Callisto. Her distraction worked well, as it gave Kim time to look for a way to get Kat out. Kat looked over at her, knowing that all the searching she was doing wasn't going to help. "Give me my crystal."

"So you can morph?" asked Kim as she handed it over. If Carri couldn't morph she wasn't sure if Kat could, still she'd let her try.

"No...," Kat said her voice trailing off. "Look, there is no door here, I've tried. She got me in here with a wave of her hand. You can't rescue me, and I can't chance her getting the crystal." She had come to terms with her fate. The rangers could come after her later, but for now she had to make sure the goddess couldn't turn the crystal evil.

Kat held her hand through the door, the crystal gripped tightly in it. Kim looked at her oddly and Kat gestured toward the shard. "Grab on to it," Kat encouraged her.

Kim put a hand on the crystal and she felt the wave of power go from Kat into her. Suddenly the crystal disappeared and the Pink Zeo Ranger was standing there. Kat smiled, happy that no matter what happened to her, Callisto wouldn't get that crystal.

Callisto snapped her head towards Kim as she heard the commotion. She didn't know how the little brat had managed to morph, with the pink crystal no less. Furious, she quickly threw a fireball at her. Kim ducked out of the way, and the fireball hit the little machine Callisto had built.

Callisto ran to attack Kim as her machine went up in flames. Kat knew what the machine was for, knew was going on. The goddess bragged about her plans and now they were going up in flames. Part of them anyway. "Morph, quickly," she urged the yellow ranger.

Carri nodded, disappointed that the destruction of the machine didn't free Kat. However there was no time to dwell on that now. "It's morphin time! Zeo ranger II, yellow!"

Callisto turned back in time to see herself getting attacked by the yellow Zeo ranger. As both rangers stood before her, she knew what she had to do, and she knew she had to do it quickly. Even though Kat wouldn't be a ranger, she would still be good evil and maybe Callisto could even find her powers. Every ounce of her body said to fight the rangers to their death, but in a rare moment of clarity she considered her plan and instead took off, taking Kat with her.

"We'd better get back to the Power Chamber," Carri said, looking over at Kim. This was beyond not good.

"Right," Kim agreed as both girls teleported off.

* * *

Chris arrived at the Hillard's household. As he pulled into the driveway, he saw Kat's car sitting there. Chris walked up and knocked on the door. "Hello?" he called waiting for someone to answer.

The answer never came. Chris knocked one more time before he tried to open the door himself. To his surprise, the door wasn't locked. He walked in and looked around. "Kat?" he called as he walked up the stairs.

He still got no response. He walked into her bedroom and took a look around before jogging back down the stairs. He found her keys and her phone sitting on a table, but there was no sign of her anywhere. Chris started to worry. He picked up her phone, hoping to get a hold of one of her friends and that they might have some answers.

* * *

The girls arrived in the Power Chamber dressed as Zeo rangers. Billy wasted no time contacting the others. No one in the Power Chamber was sure of what had happened, but with the girls being morphed they could assume it was something big.

The three remaining Zeo rangers teleported into the Power Chamber moments later. "What's going on?" asked Tommy, not noticing the two morphed rangers at first.

"I'm not sure. We'll have to ask Kat and Carri," Billy replied. He knew their signals were interfered with, and as the two morphed rangers' teleported in he contacted the others, not getting their story first.

"Well?" Jason Lee Scott asked as all attention turned to them. They immediately noticed that the pink ranger uniform was filled out differently, and as the two girls powered down they knew why. The boys looked at them in surprise as they realized Kim was the pink ranger standing there.

"What happened? Where's Kat?" asked Rocky, not sure if he really wanted to hear the answer.

"Kat's been captured. She gave me her powers," Kim started their explanation from the end of the story.

Tommy looked at her strangely. "Not that I don't love seeing you as a ranger, but I don't understand what would happen to make Kat just give you her powers like that."

"Maybe we should start from the top," Carri said as she looked at the others. "We were on our way back to see you guys when my communicator went off. I stopped to answer it. The transmission was fuzzy, but it was Kat, she had been captured and was in a cave in the area. I tried to morph, but it was no good."

Carri paused and Kim continued. "I used my Ninjetti powers, and she joined in. We went to look for her. I found Tengas, and we took them out, then we found the cave. Kat was in a cage, but we couldn't find any way in or out. I found Kat's Zeo crystal, she had been stripped of it and it was set aside."

"Callisto showed up to take her away. She's trying to make her evil, I think she was going to make her use her powers against us, kind of like what happened with Tommy and the Machine Empire. I distracted Callisto, I was hoping Kim could find a way to get Kat out," Carri continued the story as the two girls bounced back and forth with their explanation.

"I couldn't free her. Kat said there wasn't a way. She knew Callisto could just swoop her out of there and take her crystal. That's when she transferred the power to me. Callisto was angry and she accidentally destroyed the machine that was causing us interference. Carri morphed, Callisto saw us both ready to fight and she took off with Kat, and now we're here," Kim finished the story. She briefly went over it in her head, making sure they didn't miss anything.

"Kat was worried about Callisto making her use the power for evil, so she transferred it to you," Tommy said, making sure he understood the situation correctly. Kim nodded.

Carri frowned. Kim getting the pink ranger powers wasn't important. She was Zeo One, she would kick ass, and she wasn't worried about that. "That part doesn't matter anyway, what matters is we need to find her before Callisto gets a chance to make her evil, to turn her against us."

Rocky walked over to her and smiled at her, trying to reassure her that things would be alright. "Don't worry, we'll find her. Billy's on it."

"Absolutely. I'll search for her everywhere. Earth, Rita's dark dimensions, other planets... you name it I'll search it," Billy said as he walked over to the control panels to get started.

"How are you going to find her?" Jason questioned. It was a legitimate question as Kat no longer held the powers that made them easy to spot. "She has no powers now."

"Is she still wearing her communicator?" asked Billy. That was a secondary signal he could search for.

"As far as I know she is," Carri replied. Kat hadn't taken it off in the cave, and unless Callisto took it from her she still had it.

"Then I can find her with that," Billy assured them as he started to plug the search parameters into the machine.

"Are you going to be ok?" Rocky asked as he put a hand on Carri's arm, his eyes meeting hers.

She nodded as she put her arm around his back. "As ok as I can be. My archenemy has captured my cousin and plans to turn her evil so you know," she replied giving her best fake smile. Rocky could hear her voice waver and he put his arms around her and gave her a hug.

Tommy walked over to the girls. "It's good to see you as a ranger again even if it is under crappy circumstances."

"Well these are still Kat's powers you know," Kim said. She was thrilled to wear the spandex again but she knew she would have to do the right thing at the end of this. "I could never... I mean it's not fair to say that she can't be a ranger anymore because she was taken by Callisto... I hope she's alright."

Tommy pulled his girlfriend close. "Don't worry. Billy's going to find Kat, and then we're going to go pay Callisto a visit and show her why you don't mess with the power rangers."

"I hope you're right," Kim said as she smiled at him.

"Guys we need to get going. We left the car in the desert and we need to get it home," Carri said as she pulled away from Rocky. It was sitting there pretty exposed and she didn't trust people not to mess with her stuff.

"You ok to drive?" Rocky asked concerned that she could break down at any minute.

She gave him another fake smile. "I'll be fine." She wasn't prone to tears. Even if she was pissed and scared and worried she could manage to hold it together.

"Besides she's got me. We can keep each other together," Kim said as she smiled and moved in to stand beside her best friend. "We're off, but we'll still get together tonight. Hopefully with Kat safe and sound."

"You bet," Tommy said giving her a kiss. Rocky gave his girlfriend a quick kiss as well and the two took off.

"I didn't want to say this before, but I don't think time is on our side. With Callisto who knows what she's going to do to Kat," Jason paused as he looked at his friends. He knew Carri was well aware of what the goddess was capable of, but he didn't want to point that out in front of her, not now. "I don't think this is going to go well if she comes back and attacks us."

Tommy frowned. He agreed, but there wasn't much they could do at this point. "You're right bro. We just have to hope for the best." With that the boys teleported down to the surface to continue with their day, hoping that Billy would contact them soon with good news.

* * *

The girls pulled up in the Hillard's driveway that afternoon. They got out of the car and removed their stuff from the trunk. Kim had graciously accepted Kat's parent's offer to stay there when she was in Angel Grove since she didn't have a place of her own in town.

The duo brought bags into the front door of the house and sat them on the floor. There on the couch sat Kat's boyfriend. Carri managed to smile at him, even though he was the last person she would want to see. "Chris, hi, what are you doing here?"

"I've been trying to call you for the last thirty minutes!" Chris exclaimed, angry at his girlfriend's cousin for not picking up. "Kat was supposed to meet me at the park and she never showed. All of her stuff is here, but she's missing."

Kim and Carri exchanged a look. "Well you see, Kat's...," Kim let her voice trail off as she tried to think of a convincing lie. How do you stop him from looking for her without telling him the truth?

"Kat just boarded a flight to Australia," Carri blurted out not knowing what else to say. She had to find a reason he would believe and then get him out of there.

Chris looked at her curiously. She was supposed to meet him in the park, this didn't make any sense. "What? I don't understand? Why wouldn't she tell me?"

"Kat found out that one of her best friends there was in a car accident. They don't think she's going to make it. Kat wanted to fly back," Kim added to the lie. It was a horrible thing to say but it would explain her quickly running off and forgetting her phone.

"She felt guilty for not going back more often," Carri said, knowing that Kat really did feel bad about never seeing her old friends from Australia. "She wouldn't have called me except I had met the girl a few times in passing and she thought I would want to know. She said she was going to try and call you but she wasn't sure when she would have the time."

"I wish I would have known," Chris said frowning. "I could have done something."

"Unfortunately, these things aren't exactly planned," Kim told him. She wished they did have a heads up on when Zedd or Callisto was planning on doing something particularly evil.

Chris nodded as he stood up. "Thank you for explaining that. Hopefully I'll hear from her soon." Chris turned and walked out the front door. He wasn't sure if Kat's friends liked him, he didn't want to stay there any longer than he had to.

As he left the girls sighed and sat down on the couch. "Boarded a plane to Australia?" Kim asked as she glanced over at the yellow ranger.

Carri frowned. It wasn't ideal but it worked. "I don't know. I panicked. I wasn't expecting him here. And that was the first thing I could think of. If Billy doesn't find her right away, that will explain where she's gone. If he does... we'll she'll just have to stay away from Chris for a while, long enough to play out the lie." That wouldn't hurt Carri's feelings at all. She didn't like the man, didn't care if this caused them to break up. It would be better for her cousin, she might actually find somebody worthy of being her boyfriend.

"I guess that would work," Kim said, pausing as she thought about their situation, "I just hope... I just hope she's ok."

"Me too," Carri said as the girls curled up on the couch. Carri reached over and grabbed the television remote, then clicked it on. She didn't know why, she didn't really want to watch TV. She supposed it was better than the two of them sitting in silence, consumed by their thoughts.

After a few minutes of watching the moving pictures, there was a knock on the door. Carri didn't even have to get up as Tommy and Rocky let themselves in. The boys each sat on the end beside their girlfriends. Nobody said much. They just stayed there with them until Emily and Jason arrived and they all went out.

* * *

A few days went by with no sign of Kat. The rangers were trying to resume normal activities, but it was difficult. Billy was still scanning for her, but with no idea where to even start looking it had proven difficult.

Jason, Carri, Kim and Tommy took a nice afternoon and went to the beach, where Emily and Rocky were both working that day. The foursome had been playing volleyball for a while when they decided to take a break. Jason and Carri sat down on their beach towels, while Kim and Tommy took off hand in hand to get everyone some drinks.

Carri stretched out on the towel and looked over the ocean. She sighed as she leaned back to absorb some of the sun's rays. Jason looked at his friend. "Smile," he said to her. She hadn't been smiling much at all lately and he hated seeing her like that. "It's not like you to be out here on the beach without a smile on your face."

She flashed him a half smile. "Better?" she asked. She knew what he was talking about. For her, being on the beach was one of the most happy, peaceful places. Right now though it was hard to fully embrace it and be happy.

"You'll have to do better than that," he said, reaching over and elbowing her. Their eyes met and he smiled at her and she returned the gesture with a half-smile of her own.

"I know. It's just... it's hard. It's been days and we've heard nothing. Good or bad," she said as she turned to him. She'd been left alone with Callisto for a long time. When they find her she doubted it was going to be good. "I know things between us haven't been the same since... since, well, Chris, but she's still my cousin and my friend and I want to see her home safe and sound. If she's not safe and sound, well, I want to know that too so we can at least do something to help her."

"I know it's hard. She's our friend too. You're right, I want to know something too, one way or another," Jason replied. They both knew safe and sound was probably not an option at this point, it would be a fight to get their Kat back. He didn't mention it though, they had to try to at least stay positive. "It has been a few days and I know you're down but there's nothing we can do about it now except wait on Billy."

"Or wait for Callisto to unveil her plan," she added, watching Jason nod as she pointed out what both of them were thinking but not saying. Carri thought for a moment. "You're right you know. It's just hard. I'm used to going in and kicking ass and here I am with my hands tied. But I promise I will try to be happy and think positive until we hear something."

"That's the spirit," he said. He looked over and saw a genuine smile on his friends face for the first time in days. "Hey I hear your 'Stros are doing pretty good," he said trying to change the subject.

"Yeah. First place. Got the Cardinals hot on their heels though. But it's better than I can say for Rocko's Dodgers," she finished with a wicked grin on her face. She loved it when the Dodgers tanked. Not because she hated the team, but because she loved rubbing it in both her boyfriend's and her brother's faces.

Jason laughed. The two of them argued over their favorite teams constantly and he got a kick out of it. "You two and your teams."

"They're playing each other at Dodger Stadium next month. We were so busy last summer we couldn't go, however I've already got us tickets this year. Pretty good ones too I might add."

"You sitting by the home team or the away team?" He imagined that was a point of argument for the two of them.

She looked at Jason and grinned. "Well to prevent future arguments, we're going twice. Once by the Astros dugout, and once by the Dodgers."

Jason couldn't help but smile. "That's cool," he said as he looked down the beach. "It's about time you got back."

Tommy walked over and handed Jason a bottle of water. "You wouldn't believe how many people there were out there," he said as he sat down on a blanket. It was a hot day, everybody was lining up for a cold drink.

"I donno, there are a lot of people out there," Carri said as she motioned to the beach and took a drink from Kim, who sat down as well

"Well when you have days like this...," Kim smiled as her voice trailed off.

Jason cracked the lid on his bottle and took a few huge gulps. "I'm afraid if I set it down for a second, it's going to get hot and nasty."

Kim nodded in agreement as she looked out over the ocean. There were other ways they could cool down besides trying to chug a bottle of water. "How about we go for a dip before we play?"

"I think that's a fabulous idea," Carri replied. She could use the cold water against her skin right about now.

"Then let's go," Tommy said as he hopped up, reaching a hand down and helping Kim up as well.

Jason and Carri stood, and the four friends jogged down the beach and into the water. They were so busy enjoying the ocean that they didn't notice the commotion start on the beach. They looked up in time to see some sort of beach ball monster standing there terrorizing citizens. Well, there weren't many citizens left at that point, most had run for cover from the monster and his Tenga friends.

"Beach ball monster?" Kim questioned as they turned to move in closer to the beach. "Zedd never learns."

Tommy smiled at her. "You know it's up to us to teach him a lesson."

"Then what are we waiting for?" she asked as they moved quickly toward the shore. By the time they got there, there wasn't a person in sight.

"It's morphin time!" Tommy yelled.

"Zeo ranger one, pink!"

"Zeo ranger two, yellow!"

"Zeo ranger four, green!"

"Zeo ranger five, red!"

"I think somebody needs to be deflated," Carri said looking at the monster. She was trying to gauge just how much of a threat a beach ball themed monster was actually going to be.

"You rangers don't scare me," he said as he fired at them. The colors of his ball chest shot forward and combined, hitting the rangers with a blast powerful enough to throw them backwards. When they stood again, they were surrounded by Tengas.

The rangers were so busy taking on the Tengas that they had no idea what caused the monster to yell and stumble forward. "They always forget about the blue guy," Rocky said as he joined the fight.

"Nice of you to make it," Kim said teasing him a bit.

"A good lifeguard has to figure out what's scaring away all his swimmers," Rocky replied. He heard his communicator go off but hadn't been in a position to answer. That changed when the monster started to attack in earnest and everyone came running in his direction screaming as the monster alarm went off.

"I wouldn't worry about the swimmers ranger I would worry about yourselves," the monster said as he fired at the three male rangers who were standing close to each other.

As the monster had his attention on the boys, Kim jumped up leaping over the Tengas as she ran at the monster, calling for her weapon. "I'd almost forgotten how much fun this could be," she said as she attacked.

"Fun? You call this fun?" the monster asked as he kicked her down. It would be fun when he destroyed them, but it wouldn't be fun for her.

She was quick to stand up. "It's fun for me anyway. Zeo I, power kick!" she yelled as she knocked the monster back.

Tommy broke free of the Tengas and went to join her. "I can't let you have all the fun by yourself," he said as he called for his weapon and attacked.

Tommy and Kim fought the monster for a little while by themselves until the others finished off the Tengas. Then the monster was attacked by three more Zeos. "It's not very nice for you to try and ruin our day," Jason said as he hit him with his weapon.

All five Zeos then jumped on the monster. The monster threw them off. "Nice? Who said I had to be nice?" he asked as he fired at them yet again.

The rangers hit the sand but were quick to get back up. As they stood, they saw the monster grow to enormous heights. Rita and Zedd were escalating without them having to destroy the monster. Either they thought he could crush them better big, or they figured he was going to lose anyway. Kim assumed it was the former and she sighed. "Why do they always think that this is going to help?"

"I don't know, but we need Super Zeo Zord power now!" Tommy yelled. It was odd for them to make the monster grow before he was crushed but he doubted it would make any difference.

All five rangers jumped into their Super Zeo Zords. The individual zords attacked him for a few moments before the monster proved himself stronger than what was thought. "I think we need to combine and take care of this jerk. He's ruining my tanning," Carri said, ready to get this done with and get back to the beach.

"You read my mind," Kim replied as they initiated the sequence to form the Super Zeo Megazord.

The megazord stood in front of the monster. "You think your zord scares me?" he asked as he laughed at them.

"No, but it should," Rocky replied. Why every monster thought he would be the special one to survive the zord attack, he didn't know. He moved in sync with the others as they called on their saber and slashed the monster, bringing it down.

* * *

"I knew that monster was worthless," Rita screeched. It had been a stupid thing to make into a monster but they were bored.

"So did I. But I couldn't sit back and watch those rangers try to have fun. If Callisto thinks we're going to sit back and let her take weeks with Katherine and let those punks enjoy themselves well she's"

"What? Crazy?" Callisto asked as she teleported in. She would actually admit to being a little crazy, although that wasn't something she'd take hearing from Zedd. "I thought you would leave them alone until I was ready."

"And I thought you would have been ready by now." Zedd snapped. He was tired of waiting.

"All the years you've been trying to destroy them you would think you would have learned some patience," Callisto replied. Not that patience was her strong suite, but she had work to do and she wouldn't send her protégé out until she was ready.

Rito entered the room and walked up to Zedd. "Hiya Ed. Sorry to interrupt you and Calli, but I thought that maybe I could"

Callisto didn't let him finish. He annoyed her and with good reason. She flung him across the room and he hit the ground with a thud. "Was that really necessary?" Rito asked as he stood and rubbed his butt.

The goddess rolled her eyes. "Katherine will be ready soon. Then we will unleash her on those rangers. They won't kill her, but they won't be able to stop her." Pleased that Zedd knew she was still around and knew she was watching him she left to go back to Kat to finish getting her ready to face the others.

* * *

Kim and Tommy went out to dinner later that night after enjoying their day on the beach. They had fun, and they actually managed to be in good moods. Especially Kim, whose mood had increased dramatically after the fight. That was clear to her teammates, but they didn't say anything about it. Now Tommy felt like he had to bring it up. He wanted to talk to her about her wearing the pink spandex again seeing as how it affected her that much. "It was good to see you fighting again," he said after a pause in their conversation. He hadn't wanted to start the night talking about it, but as they had filled the last thirty minutes with chatter that was now dying down, it seemed like as good a time as any to mention it.

Kim smiled, the thought of the afternoon's fight making her want to jump out and go kick some more bad guy ass. "It was so exciting to be there again. I had all but forgotten what it was like," she said. She had gotten to be a Ninjetti. She thought that would suffice, but having another morpher - that was phenomenal. "Now... it just makes me feel whole again."

"Once it's a part of you, it's something that's hard to let go. Especially when you get to taste it again. I remember being green, going through some of those same feelings," he replied. He thought he could handle not being a ranger anymore. After he lost his green ranger powers for good he tried to be a civilian, but he knew he could never do it. Zordon creating the white ranger coin was one of the best days of his high school career.

"I know things are different than before. Different powers, different people - but we get out there I know exactly what to do. I mean, yeah it's a learning experience with the Zeo stuff, but at the same time it's all the same." She had to learn the new weapons system, but really that wasn't that hard. She knew how to wear the spandex, how to fight, what to do. "It's a new team for me but you know I've been with so many different people so it's not a big deal. In fact I think I really like this team. It's great to go out there and have five of us gel that well."

"I know what you're talking about. On both accounts," Tommy replied. "The Zeo stuff wasn't hard to pick up on. As far as our team goes, well I love everybody who has ever been with us, but we're probably five of the strongest and we're all close and we work the best together." He knew Zordon's original team was close – the five of them were best friends before they were ever selected to be rangers. The friendship was there, they were just novices. Over the years there had been so many changes to who was on the team, and a lot of them he didn't get to know as well as he could. The team he had now though, he was close with all of them. Carri was the newest ranger and she already had two years under her belt. This is the first time that he could say that not only was the team really close, but they were the strongest fighters both individually and as a team.

Kim nodded in agreement. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that there was nothing this team couldn't do. It hurt to think that she was only a substitute ranger. "I just hate to have to give it all up again when Kat comes back."

Tommy thought for a moment. He loathed for her to have to give it up too. Maybe she wouldn't though. Maybe Kat wouldn't want her zeonizers back. "Well, maybe she won't want to be a part of it anymore."

"Tommy who are you kidding? Once she realizes what she's missing, she'll want it back." Kat would be crazy not to want to take her crystal the moment she was back with them.

"Maybe," he replied, knowing that it would be the logical choice for him and the rest of the current team. However there was a difference between Kat and the others. "Maybe not though, she's got a life outside of this."

"And we don't?" Kim felt herself somewhat insulted at the insinuation that they didn't have lives outside of rangering. Just because it was at the center of everything didn't mean it was the only thing.

Tommy made a face. He should have phrased that a bit better. "That's not what I mean."

Kim looked at him, waiting for an explanation. Tommy got the meaning of her look and he told her what he was thinking. "It's not that I'm saying that we don't have lives. It's just that I have you and Rocky has Carri and Jason has Emily, who may not be one of us but she's friends with us and she knows about us. You and Carri are always hanging out and so are me, Jase and Rocky. Who are we hanging out with and spilling our secrets with if not our significant others or our same sex best friends? The rest of the team. I talk to Carri, you talk to Jason and Rocky, Carri talks to Jason... so where does that leave Kat?"

Kim frowned. "I don't know, you tell me." She thought Kat was a huge part of the group. At least that had been her assumption while in Florida. She didn't know what happened or why that changed. It was easy to point the finger at Chris, and maybe that was it, but for some reason Kat didn't hang around as much as she thought she did.

"Kat has Chris, and we haven't spoken much since... well you know. She was never that close with Jason, or Rocky for that matter. As for Carri... well Carri feels like she's been pushing her away. You know that. She hasn't hung out much with either of you." He still cared about Kat and respected her as a ranger and a teammate, but off the battlefield he didn't want to spend any time with her. She was close with Aisha and Tanya, both of whom haven't been on the team in years, but she never really got close with any of the male rangers other than himself. He supposed she was closer with Adam, who was dating one of her friends. Rocky she hung out with, but never outside of a group outing, and with Jason she never really did get to know him. That probably had to do with the fact that he immediately befriended her cousin and she found their relationship to be weird.

"She's still a part of the team and she knows that. I just don't think she'd want to give it up that easily," Kim pointed out. How could she? From the moment you picked up that first morpher, rangering was in your blood. Of course others had walked away with no intention of ever going back, like Zack and Trini.

"You may be right," Tommy agreed. He could be misjudging her. She may be just as hardcore about the rangers as the rest of them. Then again, although she was a good ranger and she took her duties seriously, she may be perfectly happy hanging up the spandex for good. "At the same time, she may use this is an opportunity to concentrate on other things like Chris and his friends, school, dance...,, Tommy let his voice trail off.

"I know how selfish this sounds Tommy, but I hope you're right," Kim said smiling at him. She would love it if Kat said she was going to retire and focus on other things. Tommy smiled back at her, but as he did Kim's smile quickly turned into a frown. "I feel bad all this talk and we don't even know if she's ok."

"Don't worry about that. I know we'll find her. If Callisto's turned her evil, we'll make her good again," Tommy assured her. Kim looked doubtful. "Why am I so confident you may ask? Because we have the best team, and we are, well you know who we are I don't think I need to say that in the restaurant."

Kim's smile slowly came back. He was right, there was nothing the five of them couldn't do together. For now, she wouldn't worry about it. She would let Billy keep doing his thing and eventually they would have answers. For now she would enjoy the rest of their dinner.

* * *

Rocky and Carri decided to spend the following afternoon in Angel Grove park. They had eaten lunch in the park and were sitting on the grass enjoying the scenery. Their four friends were going to meet them in the park later for some goofing around.

"I always liked the park," Carri said leaning in close to her boyfriend. "It has always been so peaceful." At least when there wasn't a monster attack.

"Me too," Rocky agreed. It was even better the last two years, now that he had a girlfriend to bring out here. "I'm glad we came out here today."

"It's been a"

Carri was cut off by a figure that was standing behind them. A figure neither one of them saw coming. "Well rangers your day is just now going to get exciting."

Rocky and Carri scrambled to their feet and swirled around, both shifting stances so they would be ready for action. Carri took one look at the figure standing in front of them and gasped. "K… Kat," she stammered.

"The weakling I once was is dead," she hissed, not wanting them to look at her and think of her as simply Kat anymore. As the duo stared at her, they were afraid it was true. Kat was no longer the sweet, innocent girl they had last seen. Her blonde hair had been turned black, and her blue eyes were now dark and cold. She was standing there in a leather outfit with a staff of some sort in her right hand.

"I won't believe that," Carri said taking a step towards her cousin. Kat was good natured, she still had to be in there and they would find a way to pull her out of this.

"Oh but you should. The… what did you call me… yes, the blond bimbo is long gone. You have to deal with me now," Kat said as she lunged at her, swinging her staff as she went.

Carri didn't get a chance to point out how she shouldn't reference something she said while under a spell. This version of Kat didn't seem like the kind who would care. That thought was fleeting as her staff hit Carri hard and she went flying across the grass.

Rocky stood there unsure as of what to do. This was still Kat, wasn't it? However she was trying to kill Carri and he couldn't let that happen. He knew couldn't hurt her either. "Kat don't make me do this."

Kat laughed as she went after him next. Rocky dodged out of her way and maneuvered so he was standing beside Carri, who was just getting to her feet. "Rocky we have to do something," she whispered. Kat obviously had no intention of listening to them, they had to find another way to stop her, to help her.

Rocky nodded in agreement, although he was at a loss. "But what? We don't want to hurt her."

"Too bad since I'm dying to hurt you," Kat said with a crazy laugh that reminded them of a certain blond goddess. The two rangers stood there glaring at her, trying to figure out their next move, as she took her staff and pointed it at them. Before they could figure out what to do next, the end of the staff fired at them, hitting the surprised pair of rangers and knocking them to the ground.

Rocky grabbed Carri's hand as they lay on the grass. "We need to get out of here," he said looking at her, watching as she nodded and reached for her communicator. Seconds later they were both gone.

Kat frowned as the flashes of blue and yellow light teleported away. Her mentor appeared before her on the lawn. "Something a matter Kat?" Callisto asked as she noticed the sour look on her face.

"The rangers didn't want to stay and play with me," Kat replied, a whiny tone in her voice.

Callisto smiled. "Don't worry, we'll get them eventually." The rangers couldn't avoid them forever, they had ways of making them come play. She watched as Kat nodded, and then the two of them disappeared.

* * *

Billy looked at the two figures that appeared on the Power Chamber floor. "Are you guys ok?" he asked rushing over to them.

"Mentally or physically?" Carri asked as she started to pull herself to her feet. "Because physically, I hurt but I'll live. Mentally, my cousin just tried to kill me and I'm too afraid to hurt her to stop her."

Billy frowned as he helped both of them stand and led them to a medical table. "Alpha if you'll contact the others, I'll take care of them."

"Aye ai ai!" the little robot exclaimed as he ran off to alert the other rangers. This was not good at all.

Streaks of green, pink and red light came into the Power Chamber. They immediately noticed their teammates sitting on the medical beds. "What's going on, what happened?" Jason asked as the trio rushed over to their friends.

"We found Kat," Rocky told them, the look he was giving them indicating that it wasn't good at all.

Carri frowned. "Needless to say, it wasn't pretty." That was an understatement.

"She tried to hurt you?" asked Kim as she watched Billy scan them. They both looked ok and were acting ok, she thought they were alright even if Kat tried to hurt them.

"Hurt? No," Rocky said making a face. It was quite obvious that hurting them, in her eyes, was a given. What she wanted to do was end their lives. "Kill, yes."

Tommy turned to look at Zordon. "What are we going to do?" he asked their mentor. If Kat wanted to kill them… well she was still their friend and a ranger however they had to protect themselves, protect the planet.

"We need to find out the source of Katherine's evil. Once we find out exactly what kind of spell or power she is being influenced by, we can try and bring her back to the side of good." He had sensed the energy surrounding her. He knew it wasn't good. If it was what he thought it was, the rangers were going to have bigger things to worry about in the future other than the pink ranger's turn to evil.

Billy finished with the blue and yellow rangers and walked over to the controls. "I don't know if I can find out much at the moment. We weren't expecting her to appear, I didn't have time to get a good scan in."

"We'll just have to wait until she attacks again," Jason said. If she wanted to kill them, he doubted it would take her long to reappear.

Kim frowned. "I just don't like this at all." She and Kat may have had their differences, especially over a certain red ranger, but they were still friends and she wanted to find out what was wrong and help her.

Tommy put what he hoped was a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Neither do I."

* * *

Callisto and Kat appeared in the Lunar Palace after Kat's first trip to Earth. "So?" questioned Callisto, looking at the palace's occupants. "What did you think?"

"Brilliant!" Zedd exclaimed as he got up to look at Kat. "I can't believe we never thought of this before. Those rangers were too scared to hurt her to even try and mount an attack. They didn't even morph!"

Rita could hardly contain her excitement. "I knew that Kitty was a good idea from the start. I just didn't push her hard enough before but you, well look at what you've done with her."

Callisto smiled, pleased that the two of them appreciated her talents. It showed that they knew their place and knew she was well above them. "I told you that it would be worth waiting for."

Rito walked into the throne room with Goldar. "Hey Goldie you think," Rito stopped speaking as his head snapped in Kat's direction. "Wow, Calli, great job. She looks hot."

Callisto started to retaliate but Kat never gave her the chance as she held up her staff and zapped Rito. "I don't appreciate morons gawking at me." Especially ones that were a complete waste of space.

"She is truly evil," Goldar said as he looked her over.

"So girls, what are you going to do now?" asked Zedd. He was hoping they would go to the surface and make quick work of the rangers. Once the team was gone, it would be easy for himself and Rita to move in and conquer the planet.

"Well I don't want to sit around this drab place, that's for sure," Kat replied with a roll of her eyes. "I want to destroy those rangers."

"She's like the daughter we never had," Zedd said with a laugh. He was hoping that when Callisto was done with her revenge, she'd let Kat stay with them. He could send her throughout the galaxy, help him establish his empire.

Rita smiled as she walked over toward her husband. "I know Zeddie, isn't it great?"

"I know of a way to get those rangers attention," Callisto said as she smiled, ignoring the duo gushing over Kat.

"How's that?" asked Kat, eager to do whatever she needed to in order to get back to fighting the rangers.

"Do the one thing those goodie rangers can't stand," Callisto replied with a smile. "Go down to the surface and destroy innocents."

Kat laughed in response as Callisto used a wave of her hand to make them both disappear.

* * *

Callisto and Kat arrived on the surface of Angel Grove, prepared to do some damage. They stood in the middle of the park, watching all the citizens try to flee. "Watch and learn," Callisto said as she threw a fireball towards some of the running people. She laughed as it hit someone.

"I think I can do that," Kat said as she took her staff and prepared to fire. She saw a target and went to let that person have it with a beam much greater than the one she hit Rocky and Carri with earlier. To her surprise, a flash of yellow light appeared in between her beam and her target. The yellow ranger absorbed the blast.

"You don't want to kill anyone," Carri said as the other four rangers joined her. They had gotten to the surface just in time. Kat would have never been able to forgive herself if she hurt an innocent.

Kat rolled her eyes. The little yellow bitch had no idea what she wanted. "You guys are being such party poopers," she replied as both she and Callisto fired on the rangers.

The five rangers scattered. They looked around to see that the rest of the people had made it safely out of the area so they turned their attention back to Kat and Callisto. "Kat, it's us, your friends," Kim tried to plead with her. Trying to get through to her could work. It had before.

"I don't have any friends," Kat snapped as she attacked her. If she did, they certainly wouldn't be these losers.

Carri saw Kat attack and Kim defend herself but she still couldn't bring herself to attack her cousin. Fortunately there was another outlet nearby for all her anger and aggression. "How could you do this to her!" she yelled as she attacked Callisto.

Callisto threw the yellow ranger off of her and turned to fight her, a huge smile forming across her face. "I just tapped into her capacity for evil. She did the rest." With that she went to attack the yellow ranger, who was the ranger at the top of the list of those she wanted to personally destroy.

As the two of them started to fight Tommy went to help his girlfriend in the fight against his ex. Tommy knew what it was like to be forced into being evil. He also knew that regardless of who your friends are, you will do what you are programmed to do and destroy who you're told to destroy, no questions asked. He'd do what he had to in order to protect himself, protect the others, while trying to turn Kat back toward their side. She had done the same thing for him once before. At the very least he owed her a return on that favor.

Rocky looked at the two fights at hand, unsure of which one to join. As much as he wanted to get Kat back on their side, he knew that someone had to help in the fight against Callisto. Mind made up, he ran to help Carri attack the goddess.

"Thanks," Carri said with a little smile as Rocky hit her from behind.

"Anytime," Rocky replied as he went to stand by his girlfriend. He knew that Carri felt responsible for Callisto and her actions, and wanted to take her out herself. He also knew that Carri wasn't stupid and knew she could always use a hand. With the two of them attacking, it lessened Callisto's chance of making a good offense. Or so they thought.

Carri stabbed Callisto in the stomach, and the goddess laughed and threw her back. Rocky used his weapon to slice her as well. Callisto was getting ready to offer him the same fate but she saw Carri start to get to her feet again. It would be too easy to just throw him back. She wanted to punish her by punishing him. She quickly used her powers to suspend Rocky in the air. "This would hurt you the most wouldn't it?" asked Callisto as she glared at her enemy.

"Let him go!" she yelled as she watched Rocky struggle helplessly, tightening her grip around her weapons, ready to attack the moment she got the opportunity.

Callisto laughed. "Hurt may be an understatement. It would destroy you. Especially if I got Kat to kill him for me." The good ideas were flowing now. This day was going to go much better than expected. She watched as Carri angrily lunged at her, then used her powers to slam her against a tree and hold her there.

The others weren't aware of what was going on yet. They were too busy trying to talk to Kat, but without much luck. Kat was more powerful and more evil than they could have ever imagined.

Jason tried to grab her from behind. He thought he had some mild success when Kat used her staff to zap him. He went flying backwards. "Guys we have to get that away from her!" Jason yelled, agitated that he hadn't seen the staff attack coming.

Kat let out a little laugh. "Fat chance," she said as she fired a beam at the pink and red rangers. As they went flying she turned, and it was then that she noticed what Callisto had done. She started to walk over there when the remaining three rangers ran to stop her.

"Kat you don't want to do this," Tommy yelled as he tried to jump on her. Kat was a good person, they had to be able to break through whatever magic made her evil and get her to see that.

Kat threw him off of her and she turned and fired at the rangers again. "I am sick of you rangers trying to tell me what I want to do. What I want to do is destroy you." Kat came up behind Callisto and used her staff to hit Rocky so hard that he was stripped of his powers and knocked unconscious. Callisto let him fall to the ground.

"No!" Carri yelled, every muscle in her body working to try to move, to free herself from Callisto's powers. "Kat please don't do this!" she begged, continuing her efforts to get free but getting nowhere.

Kat smiled evilly as she walked over to Rocky's lifeless body. "The blue ranger is as good a place as any to start."

The three free rangers started to move. Tommy looked over and saw Kat put one foot on Rocky's neck, while holding her staff high above her head. He knew that this meant they couldn't bring her back peacefully. He hated to hurt her, but he had no choice. "Zeo five power kick!" he yelled as he hit her in the back.

Kat stumbled forward as her staff came down. Even though Tommy hit her, she had still managed to hurt Rocky with the power from her staff, although she couldn't finish him off like she had wanted. She thought she could get back to him, but as she turned she was attacked by the pink ranger.

Jason jumped up and glanced at Kat. Tommy and Kim were handling her, and he needed to help his other friends. Jason quickly attacked Callisto from behind. Her concentration was momentarily interrupted and Carri hit the ground. Callisto turned to Jason. "You again? I thought you would have learned not to mess with me."

"Funny I was just about to tell you the same thing," Jason said as he kicked her, sending her stumbling backwards.

Carri saw that everyone was preoccupied and ran over to Rocky. He wasn't moving, but as far as she could tell he was still alive. She saw Kat break free and run after him again. She didn't have much time, so she touched a button on his communicator teleporting him out of there.

"Bitch," Kat hissed as she eyed the yellow ranger. She would pay for ruining her fun.

Carri could feel the tears from in her eyes as she slowly stood back up. She and Kat may not have seen eye to eye on everything lately, especially with her relationships, but she was her cousin and she loved her. She hated seeing her like this, hated knowing that she'd have to fight her, to hurt her. "You've gone too far," she said as she forced the tears back and stood, looking at her squarely in the eyes.

"What are you going to do? Kill me?" Kat asked as she pointed her staff at her. These pathetic power rangers couldn't kill her. They were more of an annoying amusement than any real threat.

"Not if we can help it," Kim said as she attacked her from behind. They didn't want to kill Kat. She didn't want to hurt her, but they had to do what was necessary to protect themselves.

Carri watched as Kat stumbled forward, and was surprised when she did the same. The yellow ranger turned to see Jason getting up from behind her. Callisto had thrown him in their direction and he collided with her. Jason stood and looked in her direction and she nodded, then they went to regroup with the other rangers. The team of four stood strong and looked at Callisto and Kat.

"This isn't over rangers," Callisto said. They had hurt one of them, proven they could easily take out the rest. This was going to be fun.

"Not by a long shot," Tommy replied. It wouldn't be over until they had Kat back and Callisto was gone. They watched Callisto and Kat disappear before they teleported back to the Power Chamber.

* * *

The rangers arrived back in the Power Chamber and immediately powered down. Carri wasted no time running over to Rocky, who was still lying lifeless on a med table. "Is he ok?"

"Kat hurt him pretty badly," Billy replied. That staff she has is powerful. Rocky was lucky Tommy stepped in when he did, otherwise he wouldn't have made it.

The yellow ranger huffed. That wasn't exactly the question she asked. "But is he going to be ok?" she asked once more with emphasis.

Billy nodded. He wasn't going to go into details but he would answer her question. "It's going to take time, but yes."

Carri nodded and turned to walk towards Zordon's tube. "What are we going to do?" she asked, batting back a stray tear in irritation. Kim walked over and squeezed her friends hand as they looked up for a response from their mentor.

"Billy was monitoring your fight," Zordon informed them. "He may have some answers for you." He had seen the results of some of Billy's scans. He was worried with what they revealed. He was fairly certain they could save Kat, but she was getting power from a source worse than Callisto. If it was who he suspected, the fact that he was taking an interest in Earth would not bode well for them.

Billy walked away from Rocky and went over to the other rangers. "From what I can see, all the power Kat has comes from the staff she holds."

"So if we destroy the staff, we free Kat?" asked Jason. It would be nice if it was that easy.

"I'm not sure," Billy replied. There was no definitive answer at this point. "Right now that's just a theory. I can positively say that if you bring me the staff and I destroy it, it will get rid of her power."

"Well that's one important step," Tommy said. The others nodded. They had all seen what that staff could do. "Even if she's still evil, she can't hurt anyone else without her powers."

"Then hopefully we can take her down without hurting her," Kim said. The staff was the reason why they found themselves fighting fire with fire.

Carri took a deep breath before she spoke. "I just can't believe it's come to this. But after what she did to Rocky, well as long as she has that staff we have to consider her dangerous. We have to do what needs to be done to keep anyone else from getting hurt," she paused for a second as she thought about her cousin and how her actions were so far from the Kat she knew. "It's just, this is still Kat, and I can't believe she would do this to us. What if Callisto was right? What if she does have some sort of capacity for evil? I wasn't here when Rita had her under her spell, but was she really like this?"

"Kat didn't have any real powers when Rita had her under her spell. So it's hard to compare," Kim told her. She frowned as she thought about Rita's kitten. She was still evil though, powers or no.

Tommy nodded in agreement. However although she didn't have powers she was undoubtedly evil. "But she still did do some evil things. Capture the Falcon Zord, she tried to kill Kim by taking her power coin."

Carri frowned. "She just never told me what she did. I knew she was evil, but even then I always thought, this is Kat, how evil can she be?" She thought evil for Kat would have been her going around kicking kittens or something. Not trying to kill people. Even when she became a ranger and knew what spells could do, she never thought about Kat being that kind of evil.

"Unfortunately, it looks like we're starting to have the answer," Jason replied. Kat was more than willing to kill all of them.

"Yeah," Carri replied as she looked over at Rocky's body. She bit her lower lip as lines of worry crossed her brow.

Jason walked over to his friend and gave her a hug. "Hey don't worry about it. Everything is going to be ok."

"How can you be so sure?" Carri asked as she leaned her head on her friends shoulder. As of right now things were definitely not anywhere close to ok.

She felt Tommy come up beside her and put his hand on her shoulder. She looked at him. "Because we're the Power Rangers," Tommy replied, and while Carri rolled her eyes at his logic she couldn't help but smile.

Kim came and stood on the other side of Tommy, and Tommy put his other arm around her. Kim grabbed her friend's hand. "The best power rangers. Which means we are going to work together to kick ass and fix this mess."

Carri smiled at her friends. "Thanks guys," she replied. Things were bleak, but these were her best friends, her family. Despite the fact she rolled her eyes she knew Tommy was right. They were the Power Rangers, there was nothing they couldn't accomplish, no matter how much the odds were stacked against them. Callisto had better watch out. They were coming for her.

* * *

Callisto and Kat went back to the Lunar Palace. Callisto was quite satisfied with what they had accomplished, but much to Callisto's delight, Kat wasn't. "I want to finish off that blue ranger," Kat growled.

"Well you did a lot of damage to him," Rita said, a hint of approval in her voice. "Now those brats have him in their precious Power Chamber, so you can't touch him."

"What if I just go in there and take care of him?" asked Kat. It was ludacris to her that she not be able to just waltz in there and finish the job.

Rito made a face. "I don't think evil people are allowed in." Once he and Goldar made it into the basement and it wasn't easy.

"Besides even if you could get in, I'm sure the rangers are there protecting him," Goldar added. They wouldn't let a fallen friend out of their site.

Callisto thought for a moment. "Maybe she can get in. I doubt they've thought to set their defenses to keep poor little Kat out." A laugh escaped her lips as she finished.

Zedd laughed as well, seriously doubting that Zordon would ever think to protect himself from one of his power punks. "You may have a point, she may still have free access in. As for the blue ranger's protection, I think I can distract them for a while."

"Good. If you can distract them, I'll take care of the ranger," Kat said as she smiled, ready to finish the job.

"In that case, allow me to send a group of Tengas to the park," Zedd paused for a second as he lifted his staff, "and now you have your distraction."

Kat laughed. "Perfect."

* * *

The rangers were standing in the power chamber when the alarm went off. They all spun around to see what the disturbance was. "Rangers it appears as though Lord Zedd has sent a bunch of Tengas to the park."

The teens looked at each other. Tengas weren't exactly what they were expecting. "Be careful guys," Jason said, expecting this to be some sort of trap orchestrated on Callisto's part. The others nodded in agreement, their thoughts along the same lines as his.

Despite not knowing the true meaning of the battle they had to go, and what better way to face the Tengas than as Ninjetti's. "Ninjetti, falcon!"

"Crane!"

"Panther!"

"Cougar!"

Billy watched as his four friends took off to fight the Tengas. At least this would be an easy fight for them, assuming Callisto didn't have something more sinister in store. He glanced over at Rocky and frowned. There wasn't much more he could do for him except monitor him and wait. Billy decided to go through that afternoon's fight with Kat again to see if there was anything he missed. Anything he could find out about her and her powers would help his friends.

As Billy was cuing everything up, he heard someone teleport in. He knew the Tengas were easy opponents, but that was surprisingly quick. "Back already?" he asked as he turned to face his friends.

To his surprise, it wasn't the rangers who were standing there. "This is going to be too easy," Kat said as she smiled. She quickly used her staff to lift Billy up and fire a beam at him, sending him across the room. As he hit the ground, she went over to the blue Zeo ranger.

Billy was having a hard time getting to his feet. The blast had hit him pretty hard. He looked over and saw Kat over Rocky's lifeless body, the power from her staff coursing over him. She was coming back to finish off the job. He knew Rocky's body couldn't handle much more, and he would have to act quickly. "Ninjetti, wolf!" he yelled as he leaped out at Kat.

Kat was surprised to see Billy standing there. She knew she only needed another second or two to finish off the Zeo ranger. First there was a Ninjetti standing in her way. She grinned. One Ninjetti wasn't a challenge at all. It wouldn't be hard to get rid of him first, and then finish off the ranger. She turned and fired a blast at him, which missed and hit the console, scrambling wires and temporarily knocking Zordon's tube out of commission. One shot she purposefully aimed at Alpha, causing him to go crazy. She continued to fire at him and miss, hitting the console. She didn't mind the misses too much. A little destruction along the way made her feel better.

Billy tried to mount an offence but he knew it wouldn't do much good. His Ninjetti powers didn't stand a chance against her staff. There was only one way to get her out of there, and he had to do it quickly before she destroyed that part of the console. He jumped as far away from the controls as he could, and looked at Kat. "If you want me, come get me."

Kat started to run at him, but Billy used his Ninjetti powers and disappeared, ending up in front of the console. As Kat turned, Billy hit several buttons and watched as the former pink ranger was teleported to the moon. Billy was unsure of what to do next. Rocky needed immediate attention or he could die. However if he didn't act quickly, Kat could just teleport herself back in there and finish him off anyway. Billy made up his mind and went to the console. He had to reprogram their defense shields to only allow himself and the five rangers' access.

As he started to work, he could hear the others teleport in chattering amongst themselves. The chatter quickly stopped once everyone got a look at what was going on. "What the hell happened?" Tommy asked as they saw Zordon gone, Alpha going crazy and half the consoles destroyed.

The others looked around and realized there was something else going crazy. Rocky's monitors. "Rocky!" Carri exclaimed as she ran over to him. "Billy you've got to get over here and"

"In a second," Billy cut her off. He needed to finish this first. He was almost done. He knew they would understand once he had time to explain.

"But he's dying! What the hell are you doing over there!" she yelled at him, resisting the urge to unleash physical violence against the man who was ignoring her dying boyfriend.

The others looked from Carri to Billy. They knew something must be going on to keep him at the consoles and away from their dying friend. A few seconds later, Billy looked triumphant. "Finished," he said as he quickly turned his attention to Rocky. "Move," he said to Carri, giving her a small shove as he got over there and started to work.

She stumbled a few feet back and fell to her knees. Jason knelt down beside her and put his arms around her. Kim buried her head in Tommy's shoulder, as she couldn't bear to watch what was going on.

As the monitors continued to go off, Carri slumped to the floor and a few tears fell down her face. Jason pulled her in to his chest and continued to hold her there. He glanced up at Tommy and frowned. Tommy returned the frown as he put both arms around his girlfriend and squeezed as he saw a loose tear run down her face. "Everything is going to be ok," he whispered into her ear. That only made more tears fill the eyes of the pink ranger.

After what seemed like hours, the monitors finally stopped going off. Billy continued to work for a moment before he stopped. Tommy glanced at him. "Is he alright?"

"She did a lot of damage... he's lucky to still be alive," Billy replied. He honestly wasn't sure if he was alright. It was too soon to tell. He was alive, for the moment.

Carri looked up at him, pushing the tears off of her face as she regained her composure. "But he's going to make it right? He's going to be ok?"

Billy knelt down to her level and put a hand on her shoulder. "He was hurt badly. But he'll live to fight again. It's just going to take his body time and a little bit of help to heal itself," he told her smiling as he spoke. He hoped he wasn't going to make a liar out of himself, but he couldn't tell her the truth. She had too much else on her plate at the moment. Rocky's body may not be able to heal itself. The blue ranger may not make it.

Carri said nothing and just nodded in response. She took a deep breath and started to stand, barely noticing as Jason helped her to her feet. She turned and saw Kim look up at her. She could tell Kim had been crying and the two girls went over and hugged each other.

"So what did happen here?" Jason asked, turning and immediately looking to Billy for answers.

"The Tengas were meant to be a distraction. Kat teleported in and knocked me back, and tried to finish him off. There must have been some sort of glitch since she was a ranger which allowed her to get in here," Billy explained. "I used my Ninjetti powers to fight her, but she was stronger than me as you can see. I had to teleport her out of there to get rid of her. I had to decide to tend to Rocky first or to reconfigure the Power Chamber's shield to only let the six of us in. I chose the latter, because even if I had tended to Rocky first, she could've teleported back in and killed him before I could stop her."

The others nodded. They all agreed that Billy had done the right thing. "What about Zordon and Alpha?" Kim asked, gesturing to the empty tube.

"I think between the five of us, we can get this place up and running again," Billy said smiling at them. The others shook their heads in agreement, and with that the rangers got to work.

* * *

A few hours later, everything was back up and running again. "Aye ai ai, rangers, I can't believe Kat got in here and attacked."

"We're just lucky Billy was here," Carri said as she smiled at her friend.

"Yeah if it weren't for Billy," Jason glanced over at Rocky and never finished his sentence. The others knew what he was thinking.

"I just did what any of you would have done," Billy replied. He didn't need any more credit than that. "I'm just glad we got everything up and running again."

Tommy smiled. "We never had any doubts."

"Now that this is all done, maybe you guys should go relax," Billy suggested. They still had a long fight against Kat in front of them. He didn't think they needed to just hang around there.

Carri glanced over at her boyfriend. "I think I'm going to stay here tonight." She didn't want to leave him, didn't want to try and relax while he was there unconscious.

Billy walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. "There's nothing you can do for him here. I'll stay here and keep an eye on him," he told her. She frowned as he spoke. "Besides, Rocky wouldn't want you to just sit here with him."

"Billy's right," Kim agreed. She saw the look on Carri's face. "Don't worry. We'll go to the apartment and sit on the couch all night and watch Brad Pitt movies."

"Thanks Kim, but you and Tommy had plans and I'd hate to step in the middle of that," Carri replied. She wasn't going to let Kim bust a date with Tommy for some movies. Even if they were Brad Pitt movies.

Tommy smiled at Carri. It always sucked to break a date with Kim, but her best friend needed her more. "There's always nights for me and Kim. You need us. Why don't we all go out to dinner then we'll take you home and we can all hang. Or me and Jase will just take off and let you girls obsess over your Hollywood hunk."

"Sounds like a plan bro," Jason said. There was no way they were going to leave her by herself that night to obsess over everything that was going on.

"Are you guys sure?" Carri asked. Tommy and Kim nodded in reply. "Thanks guys. That means a lot to me."

"Well let's not wait around here and depress ourselves. Let's get going," Jason told them. They all needed to get out of there, to refresh a bit before the inevitable round two.

"We'll see you later Billy," Tommy said as he prepared to teleport.

"Call me if anything changes," Carri said as she made eye contact with Billy and the former ranger nodded. Carri hated leaving with Rocky recovering on the med bed, but Billy was right. She couldn't do anything for him, and he wouldn't want her sitting there with him.

Billy said goodbye to his friends as they teleported out. Billy sighed and stretched. With the source of Kat's power unknown, and Rocky needing constant attention, he knew it was going to be a long night.


	25. Pink Dilemma Part 2

**Disclaimer: **Callisto still belongs to Universal and all things Power Rangers are still Saban's. Carri and Chris and any other not known character came from my imagination and cannot be used without my permission.  
**Author's Note:** It has been a CRAZY past few months but hopefully things have settled down now and I can get back to writing. Here is the new Scrolls, and Dark Inheritance will follow soon.

Ranger Scrolls  
Pink Dilemma  
Part 2

Carri got up early the next morning, rushing through her morning routine so she could teleport to the Power Chamber. Billy and Alpha weren't in the main room, so she walked up and looked at Rocky. After a few moments she heard a door open.

Billy saw Carri catch him out of the corner of her eye. "He's doing a lot better you know."

"That's good," she said as she nodded. She had a good time with her friends last night, but the entire time she was worried about her boyfriend. "How much longer before he regains consciousness?"

"It's hard to say for sure. I know I said this before but he really is lucky to be alive. To be honest that second attack by Kat should have killed him. He was already so weak. By the time I got to him, well, he must have been really fighting for something," Billy paused, unsure of what to say. Decision made he continued. "Last night it was touch and go all night. I thought he was ok but with everything he'd been through...," he shook his head as his voice trailed off, "now I can say with one hundred percent certainty that he'll be fine."

Carri smiled. Not as much about what Billy said, but that he'd said it at all. He could have babied her, but he told her the truth. She reached down and put Rocky's hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. "Do you think," she started but had no time to finish the thought as the alarm went off.

Billy and Carri turned to see what was going on. They saw Kat standing there with a group of Zedd's Tengas. "You go ahead. I'll alert the others."

Carri nodded. "It's morphin time! Zeo ranger two, yellow!"

* * *

The yellow Zeo ranger appeared before her cousin, who gave her a vicious smile as she spoke. "I'm surprised to see you here. I figured by now you'd be mourning the loss of your boyfriend."

"You're assuming he's dead. And you know what they say about assumptions," Carri replied, wearing a satisfied look behind her mask.

Kat frowned. "That's too bad. I thought I'd all but left him that way." That was not going her way at all.

Before Kat had a chance to make a move, Carri jumped in to start the fight. She wanted to get that staff away from Kat, but that was proving to be difficult with all the Tengas around. Before she got a chance to really give it a try, three flashes of light came in to help her.

"And I was beginning to think you were going to make it easy for me to destroy you," Kat said, the disappointment in her voice not conveying how she really felt. It was more fun to destroy all four at once than to waste her efforts on one pathetic little challenge.

"Sorry to disappoint," Jason replied as he attacked her while Tommy and Kim went to work on the Tengas.

After a few minutes the rangers thought they were making progress. The Tenga army was diminishing and they were coming closer to getting that staff. Kat sensed the fight was not going quite as planned. She leaped backwards and held her staff high in the air. A lightning bolt flew from the sky, and then she quickly turned the staff towards the rangers, hitting all four of them and flinging them to the ground. "How do you like my new trick?"

"How do you like mine?" asked a voice from behind. Kat spun just in time to see what was about to hit her. As Trey's staff made contact, Kat hit the ground hard. Furious to be surprised like that, Kat took off leaving just the rangers.

Trey ran over to help the others get up. "Are you all ok?" he asked. He didn't like hitting a former ranger like that, but he didn't have the same qualms about hurting Kat as the others did. As of right now, she was on Rita and Zedd's side which made her the enemy.

"Yeah I think so," Tommy replied as he stood.

"Zordon informed me of your situation," Trey told them. "I got here as fast as I could." The rangers needed his assistance, especially if what Zordon was speculating was true.

"Thank you. From the look of it, we're going to need as much help as we can get," Kim replied. She and the others regrouped, and then the rangers quickly teleported back to the Power Chamber.

* * *

"Billy I don't know what we're going to do, she keeps getting stronger," Jason said as they powered down. She was not going to make it easy to get that staff away.

"That last attack was some sort of staff upgrade," Billy informed them. "Somebody strong is powering her."

"Callisto?" suggested Carri. That's what made the most sense. Billy shook his head no.

"Rita and Zedd?" supplied Kim, thinking the sorceress was the next best thing.

Billy shook his head no again. "More powerful than that."

"Who could be more powerful that Callisto and Rita and Zedd?" asked Tommy. Mondo and Machina were gone, perhaps Master Vile was back. He might be able to do it, but why would he.

"That's the answer I'm almost afraid to find out," replied Billy. He had a feeling their mentor had an idea. Zordon was asking all the right questions as the information came rolling in, however if he knew he wasn't sharing and Billy wasn't one to push.

Jason made a face. "Do you think we can still get the staff away from her?"

Billy nodded. That he had figured out. "I have done a lot of research on the staff. I still can't say for sure that it's what's making her evil. I do know that it can absorb a lot of energy. Most of it evil energy, but if we can counteract that with some good energy of our own, it may make it unstable enough that Kat can't hold onto it, giving you guys seconds to steal it."

The rangers thought for a moment. Tommy was the first one to speak. "How do we infuse it with good energy?"

"If one of you guys can get a hold of the staff, I think I have a way to fill it with good energy through the Zeo Crystal," Billy told them. It was going to cause quite the shock for whoever got their hands on it, but he's was fairly certain anyone on the team was willing to endure it.

"So basically the plan is grab the staff and hope you can work your magic before she kills us," Carri asked as she crossed her arms and thought about the plan. The others shot her a look. "I just wanted to be clear."

"You don't think it will work?" asked Jason, turning toward her and crossing his arms as well, as if daring at her to come up with some reason why it won't.

The corners of Carri's lips turned up slightly at the look Jason was giving her. "If Billy came up with it, it's bound to work. That staff just hasn't brought us much good luck yet."

"Well I think it's about time for our luck to change," Kim said. It had to, they didn't have much choice.

"I am going to stay around Earth. Please don't hesitate to call when she attacks again," Trey told them. He was not needed here, now, but he would be back when the attacks started again.

"We won't," Tommy replied. "And thanks again for your help."

"Any time rangers," Trey said as he teleported off.

"So now what?" Kim asked as she looked at the others.

"We are supposed to do a martial arts seminar on campus this afternoon. It's part of an outreach to kids program that USC is doing," Jason said. With everything going on, he had almost forgotten about it until one of the members of the children's organization contacted him that morning.

"We as in," Carri didn't finish the sentence as she looked at Rocky then glanced at Tommy and Jason.

"Yeah," Tommy replied. "Jason and I will carry on. We can tell them that Rocky suddenly got sick." They had to, Rocky would agree they couldn't let the kids down.

Kim and Carri nodded in agreement as Jason spoke. "Emily is coming up after the seminar," he told them. "Maybe when she gets here we can all go out."

"Sounds good," Kim replied. If they had a quiet rest of the day, an evening out might be good.

Jason nodded. "We had better get going." If they were going to do the seminar they needed to get moving.

"We'll see you guys later," Carri told them as the guys prepared to teleport out.

"Good luck," Kim added as she gave her boyfriend a kiss. The two male ranger's then teleported off. Kim turned to her friend. "So what do you want to do?"

"I don't know," Carri said glancing at her boyfriend. She felt like she should stay with him, especially after what Billy told her that morning.

Kim grabbed her by the arm. "Come on. I'm taking you down to the beach. A little sun always brightens up your day."

Carri looked hesitant. "But"

"No buts. Come on, let's go." Kim was not going to let her mope around over everything that was going on.

"I'll let you know if anything happens. Go have a good time," Billy encouraged her to get out. She most certainly wasn't needed there, it wouldn't do her any good staying.

Carri thought for a moment. "I guess you're right." With that, the two girls teleported out of the Power Chamber leaving Billy alone to do work.

* * *

Billy found himself so occupied with the Kat situation that the afternoon flew by. He was contemplating whether or not Rocky would be alright long enough for him to go out with the others for a bit when his friend started to stir. Billy ran over to him and put a hand on him to keep him from moving too quickly. "Easy Rocky. You took quite a beating."

Rocky started to sit up. "How long have I been out?" he asked looking around the Power Chamber, immediately going into ranger worry mode when he saw no one was there. "Where are the others? Are they fighting? Are they hurt? Do they need me?"

Billy smiled as he helped him sit up. "The others are fine. Tommy and Jason are finishing up a seminar, and I believe Carri and Kim spent the afternoon on the beach."

"Seminar?" Rocky repeated, not believing that he was out long enough to miss the class he was supposed to teach. "You mean I've been out for a day now?"

"Yes," Billy replied looking at his friend, his brow arching. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"I remember being suspended in the air by Callisto, and Carri was held against a tree. Kat came running towards me and I don't know about anything after that." He struggled to remember what happened but he simply could not.

"Kat used her staff to strip you of your powers and knock you to the ground. With Callisto still holding Carri against the tree and the others down from Kat's attack, Kat went over to you and used her staff to try and kill you. If it wasn't for Tommy, she would have succeeded. Jason freed Carri and she teleported you out of there," Billy finished, filling him in on the battle he missed.

"And I've been out since?" asked Rocky. Kat must have hit him hard. He got a firsthand look at what that staff could do and it wasn't good.

Billy frowned. The next little bit was where the story got complicated. "Well yes but not entirely because of that. Zedd sent Tengas to attack when the others got back so they took off again. Kat was able to infiltrate the Power Chamber. I think it was due to a glitch in the system and her being a ranger before. She attacked you, but I was able to get her out before she killed you. When the others came back from the fight you were dying and we didn't think you'd survive. You almost shouldn't have survived."

Rocky smiled. "I have a lot to live for." He accepted his role as a ranger and what might happen because of it. However life was good and he didn't have any intention of being bested that easily.

"You were kind of iffy last night, but the others weren't there for that part. They left, well three of them left and dragged Carri with them. We didn't think you'd want her here watching you."

"Thanks," Rocky told him. They were right. She didn't need to sit there over him. He knew her, she'd just get pissed everything and do something stupid like confront Callisto by herself. "So she's at the beach now?"

"Hang on let me check," Billy said walking over to the control panels. He did a quick scan for her. "Looks like she's back at the apartment."

Rocky hopped down of the med bed. "Then that's where I'm off to."

"Just take it easy," Billy requested. His friend was nowhere near one hundred percent yet.

"Of course," Rocky replied, although they both knew should there be another attack take it easy wouldn't be an option.

Billy nodded. "See you later."

"Later," Rocky said as he teleported to the living room of his friends' apartment. He looked around and saw nobody was there so he walked down the hallway. Carri and Kim's bedroom doors were shut. He assumed that they had just gotten back from the beach and were getting changed. He cracked open Carri's door and looked around. He didn't see her, but the bathroom door was cracked. Knowing she wouldn't mind the intrusion he walked into the room and then quietly shut the door behind him. He walked over toward the bed and made himself comfortable while he waited for her.

A few minutes later Carri walked out of the bathroom. She was looking for her perfume, so off in her own little world thinking about everything that has happened that she almost didn't notice Rocky sitting there. As she saw him she froze for a moment. "Rocky?" she asked in disbelief. She was worried it would be a long time before she saw him up and around again, yet here he was. Casting that thought aside, she ran over to him and threw her arms around him.

Rocky returned the hug then he pushed her back a little bit. "Hey," he said smiling at her.

Not one to get overly sentimental, she returned the smile and cracked a joke. "Nice of you to finally join me."

"Sorry I was too busy to bother with you before," he joked back with a chuckle, getting a sly smile from her. His smile disappeared as he moved to discuss the seriousness of his situation. "Billy told me what happened."

Carri nodded, knowing they had to discuss it even though she was perfectly content pretending it didn't happen. "After Kat attacked the Power Chamber and we returned, I really thought we were going to lose you. I didn't know what to think or what to do. All I remember is sitting on the floor thinking that if something were to happen to you I'd"

Rocky stopped her with a kiss. "Don't worry about it now," he assured her. He saw how much it hurt her to think about him dying and he saw the flash of anger that would have led to her doing something stupid and dangerous. "I'm here. In one piece. I would never leave you." Rocky put his arms back around her and pulled her in giving her another kiss.

Carri grinned as she curled up in her boyfriend's arms. "You might want to work on your battle skills so you don't get your ass kicked like that again," she teased, pushing the thoughts aside of how hard it was to see the man she loved like that and how she wanted to rip Callisto a new one.

The blue ranger let out a laugh. "Maybe I'll sign up for some karate lessons or something," he replied as he smiled down at her.

"Hey Carri are you ready to go?" Jason asked as the door swung open. He was surprised to see her sitting there with Rocky and smiled at the duo. "It's good to see you up and moving."

"It's good to be up and moving," he replied.

"So do you want me to tell the others you're not coming?" Jason asked, assuming the duo would want some alone time together.

Rocky spoke before Carri could answer. "Well where were you going?"

"The whole gang of us were going to eat," she replied. As soon as she replied she knew Rocky would want to go, which was fine with her.

"Just because I was almost dead doesn't mean I lost my appetite," Rocky joked. Truthfully he was starving, he just wanted to see his girlfriend first and figure out the rest later. "Count us in."

"Are you sure you feel up to it?" Jason asked. He almost died, he didn't want his friend to feel obligated to go out with them.

"Absolutely," he replied eagerly before turning toward his girlfriend. "Then after maybe me and you can come back and have some alone time." He would love to take her somewhere but he knew he wasn't up to par at the moment and he needed to just relax.

She grinned at him. "I'd like that."

"Are we ready?" Rocky asked as he turned toward Jason.

The green ranger nodded. "Tommy went to grab Kim, Emily and Billy are here so we are good to go."

"Then let's do it," Rocky said as he hopped up and took his girlfriend with him. The three of them went out to greet the others and then they were all off to dinner.

* * *

After they left the restaurant, everybody went their separate ways. Billy went back to the Power Chamber, Carri and Rocky went back to her apartment to relax, while Tommy and Kim went for a moonlit stroll down the beach. Jason and Emily walked around town, unsure of how they wanted to spend their night.

Emily looked up at her boyfriend. "I'm so glad that Rocky is ok. I'm sure Carri was devastated."

Jason nodded. "She was, but she's strong. She kept doing what had to be done." She was a ranger. He couldn't imagine how bad it was for her to see him like that but he had no doubt that she would have continued to be more than good to go in battle.

"I just can't believe that Kat would do those things." Kat was her friend and she had been trying to wrap her head around it for a while.

"I know, but it's unfair to judge her. When you're evil - well spells can make people do things that they would never dream of doing." Emily had gotten a little taste of spells courtesy of Rita. That made them hate each other and was relatively tame in comparison to what some of them had gone through.

"Have you ever been evil?" They never talked in depth about his ranger days but she felt like this was something that was important to know.

Jason shook his head no as he answered. "No, but Tommy has. I saw what he was capable of doing. You remember that day that Carri and I disappeared on the beach?" Jason paused and glanced at Emily, who nodded. "We were taken to be killed by Tommy, who was still evil in that world and was killing rangers. When we freed him he was devastated by what he had done. Tommy has a heart of gold, he would never want to hurt any of us."

"What do you think is going to happen when you free Kat?" The pink ranger was such a good person, she didn't know how she was going to deal with it.

Jason shrugged. "Kat hasn't done anything worth regretting yet." If it was him he'd just apologize and move on, go back to being a ranger. Evil spells happen.

Emily made a face. From her count she had done a lot worth regretting. "She almost killed Rocky and destroyed your Power Chamber."

"Both things she's going to be upset about," Jason somewhat agreed with her. "However Rocky's not dead and we put the Power Chamber back together." He knew it was hard for her to understand. She didn't know what it was like to be a ranger.

"Do you think Kat will want to be a ranger again?" She asked the question because she wasn't sure she'd be up to coming back and fighting alongside the people she just tried to kill.

"It's hard to say for sure. I'd want to go back to fighting the good fight, righting all the wrongs, and making up for what I'd done... not to mention not having the power is a hard thing to get used to. You always want it back." He was fairly certain anybody on the current team felt the same way but he couldn't say it with certainty about Kat.

Emily put her arm around Jason as they continued walking. "I just hope everything works out."

Jason returned the gesture and squeezed her as he smiled at her and nodded. They were approaching a movie theater, and Jason was about to suggest they go in, when his communicator went off. Jason took Emily's hand and walked off into an alleyway. "Go ahead."

Billy's voice came through the communicator. "It's Kat. She's attacking again."

"I'm on it," Jason said. He put his hand down and turned towards his girlfriend. "I'll be right back."

"Be careful," she said giving him a quick kiss, trying not to worry about what might happen with Kat.

He nodded his head before double checking to make sure he was clear and shifting into position. "It's morphin time! Zeo ranger four, green!"

* * *

Jason was the first morphed ranger to appear on the scene. He glared at Kat, immediately noticing that she was by herself this time. "You're making this too easy for us," he said, acknowledging her lack of backup.

Kat rolled her eyes. "Please I don't need Zedd's army to take you out." Kat saw a red and pink light, followed by a blue and yellow light. She glared at the five rangers as they stood there. "So you're on your feet again? That won't last."

Rocky let out a small laugh. "I wouldn't be so sure about that if I was you."

Kat turned just in time to see the black light materialize beside her. She did a few back flips so the entire ranger team was in front of her. "I'm not dumb enough to fall for that again."

The rangers looked at each other. They knew what they had to do, and they knew they might have to hurt Kat in order to keep this from going on any longer. Trying to think of her as a normal enemy they all attacked, each ranger making an effort to grab for the staff. What they didn't know was that Kat had become very good at welding its power and she was able to keep the rangers off of her.

"Has anybody tried using their power weapons against her?" Rocky asked as he looked at the others. They shook their heads no. They had always been so concerned with Kat's safety that they were reluctant to do it. Now though they all knew that they only chance they had would be for someone to knock her off her feet. He called for his power weapon and attacked.

Kat was surprised to see him attack her like that given the rangers desire not to hurt her and attempt to make her one of them. She was so surprised that she didn't have time to mount an offence. After a few minutes of fighting with him, she maneuvered out of his way and lifted her staff high in the air to try and get a charge from it. Rocky tried to grab it, but she was too smart to let him get to it.

As Kat held her staff in the air, she concentrated all of her energy on the blue ranger. So much so that she never noticed the yellow ranger leap at her and grab the middle of the staff. Kat swung the staff around and threw the ranger on her back.

"You think I'd let go that easily?" asked Carri. She was determined to get the damn thing away from her cousin and when she put her mind to something she was pretty good at seeing it through.

"No a challenge would be more fun," Kat replied, anxious to do some damage to the yellow ranger, the one Callisto said hated them the most.

Carri quickly maneuvered to her feet without letting go of the staff. Suddenly she felt a charge of energy flow through her. She didn't know how long she would have to hold on for Billy to finish his work. Fortunately for her, she didn't have to worry about it long. The staff quickly became unstable with the good and evil energy in it. The staff sent electric shocks through both cousins' bodies, throwing them back before the staff fell to the ground where they once stood.

Tommy ran to attack Kat before she could pull herself together. As he did so, Jason ran over and grabbed the staff, teleporting out with it. Kim and Rocky went to check on Carri. "Are you ok?" Kim asked as she was climbing to her feet.

Carri grinned as she hopped up and shook her limbs out a bit. "Nothing like a little electric shock to get the blood flowing."

The blue and pink rangers briefly acknowledged her comment before they all ran over to assist Tommy, who was handling Kat now that she was without her staff. "Give it up Kat. Your power no longer exists. You can come back, with us, where you belong."

"I never belonged with you," she hissed as she prepared to battle the four rangers.

As Tommy went to grab her, Callisto showed up with a handful of Tengas. "Not so fast red ranger," she said with a growl, throwing him back. "I believe you have something that belongs to us."

Jason teleported back onto the scene. "Had you mean," he cockily corrected the goddess.

"What did you do with my staff?" growled Kat, ready to tear him apart limb from limb.

"Not much. Gave it to Billy, he destroyed it," replied Jason. It hadn't been that hard to siphon the energy out of it and destroy the staff when Billy got a hold of it. According to the former ranger, the hardest part was figuring out where to siphon the energy to.

Kat glared at the green ranger and let out a growl. "How dare you."

"Don't worry we'll take care of them," Callisto said as she advanced. The destruction of the staff was not going to go over well. Hopefully they could get a new one and forget about it.

The goddess was stopped dead in her tracks by the gold ranger. "Not if I have anything to say about it."

Trey begin to fight with Callisto as the Zeo rangers ran for Kat. However the Tengas wouldn't allow them access without going through them first. Kim was the first one to break free. As she ran towards Kat, Goldar appeared taking them both away.

The other rangers cleared the Tengas and ran towards Kim. "Where did she go?" asked Tommy as he briefly glanced around.

"Goldar rescued her," Kim replied with a frown.

"We'll have to get her later," replied Jason. There wasn't much they could do about that now, especially with another target left on the battlefield. The rangers turned around and gave their full attention to Callisto.

"Let's just piss her off and get her out of here," Carri said reaching for her pistol. She had more important things to deal with than a pissy Olympian goddess.

"Sounds like a plan," Rocky replied as the rest of the team did the same. He was worn out from the fight given that he was still recovering, and he never liked seeing his girlfriend try and face off against Callisto. The quicker they got this over with the better.

All five rangers fired on her, grabbing her attention as Callisto spun around when she got hit. As the dust cleared, that was the first time she noticed Kat had disappeared along with the Tengas. She hissed at the rangers once for good measure and with a wave of her hand, she took off as well.

* * *

"Those bastards took my staff!" Kat yelled as she materialized in Zedd's throne room.

"Calm down, I'm sure we can get you another one," Rita said, resisting the urge to groan. She was starting to think this would be another failure. At least she wouldn't have to chalk it up to one of her own.

Callisto arrived in the throne room and looked at Kat, who was fuming. "Don't worry it's replaceable." At least she assumed it was, she'd have to go investigate.

"Can I get one now?" she asked, sounding like a hopeful child.

"It's going to take a few days," Callisto replied. She was going to have to go back to the person who made it and figure out a way to request another one. This was a mission of interest to him as he had future plans involving these rangers, she had a feeling she could get him to oblige.

Kat crossed her arms and stormed off. Zedd smiled and sighed. "Teenagers." He was glad to see things were finally going somewhat his way. It didn't matter that she lost her staff, they were finally able to use one of the rangers own against them and in his book that was a victory.

* * *

The ranger's teleported back to the Power Chamber and powered down. "I'm no expert, but it doesn't seem like the staff was what was keeping Kat under the spell."

"You're right Kim," Billy replied. It was quite obvious that she was still evil. "But remember, it was only a theory."

"So then how do we reverse the spell?" asked Tommy. It didn't sit well with him that they couldn't easily flip the switch by destroying the staff.

"I think she's going to have to be reminded of who she is," Billy answered. "I've been scanning her, and this is not the kind of spell you can free with potions or artifacts."

"So we need to remind her that she was the sweet, innocent Kat we all loved," Carri said with a sigh. They tried to tell her she was their friend at first. They failed miserably.

Billy nodded. "That's essentially the idea."

"She won't listen to us," Jason pointed out, his thoughts echoing Carri's. "We've tried."

"Plus it's hard to get to her with Callisto and Zedd's goons guarding her," Rocky added. It was one thing last time they tried this with Tommy. They were trapped with him in Gasket's battle arena, they had his full attention and Gasket was so cocky he didn't think his plan would fail. He didn't step in until it was too late.

"What if we kidnap her? She's powerless against us without her staff. All we have to do is grab her and bring her here," Tommy suggested. They they'd have her full attention, it would be easy to work on her from there.

"Well I don't know if bringing her here would be such a good idea," Billy said, thinking about the last time she was there. "However I can find a cave in the desert to set you up in. All I need to do is put up a force field to keep her evil friends out and you guys might just be able to work your magic on her."

"We just have to hope that she doesn't get a new staff before she attacks again," Kim said. She had a feeling pulling that stunt to get the staff away from her wouldn't work twice.

"Well she seemed kind of pissed at us. I don't see her waiting too long to come after us. She just needs time to regroup," Jason thought out loud. At least he hoped so. Otherwise they would be in trouble.

"Jason's right," Tommy agreed. She still had Zedd's forces backing her. At the very least she'd be able to come down and cry charge. "She won't wait to come back after us. We just need to be ready."

Billy nodded as he went to work creating a space that the rangers could take Kat to in order to try and break the spell that Callisto placed over her.

* * *

Kat awoke the following morning and went straight for the throne room. She saw Lord Zedd sitting on his perch. He turned to look at her when he heard her come in. "I want to go down to the surface," she said looking at him. She was still fuming and she wanted to take out those rangers, staff or no staff.

"That would probably not be wise seeing as though you don't have any powers," Zedd pointed out. She wasn't that good of fighter - like some of the rangers before her the martial arts skills she used in battle were a product of her morpher.

"Send me with Tengas and a monster. Then I can watch as they torture the rangers," Kat pleaded. She could hang back, she just wanted to see them hurt.

Zedd thought for a moment. He loved her spunk, her thirst for destruction. He almost couldn't deny her. "I will send you down there. However, at the first sign of trouble I am bringing you back."

Kat grinned as he gave in. "Don't worry the only ones who are going to see trouble are the rangers."

Zedd laughed as he scanned the surface. Upon picking an object and transforming it into a monster, he sent Kat and some Tengas down to the surface.

* * *

Tommy had gone to the Youth Center early with Rocky. Rocky felt like he needed a workout after being out the last day, and Tommy never refused a challenge. A few rounds into the boys sparring routine, their communicators went off. The duo walked over to a secluded part of the Youth Center to answer them.

Tommy raised his communicator to his mouth. "Go ahead Billy."

"Zedd created a monster and sent it to the park, along with Tengas and Kat," he replied. This was their chance, the team needed to get moving.

The red and blue rangers exchanged a hopeful glance. "Does Kat have a staff back?"

"There is no evidence she is in possession of a staff." They scanned her thoroughly, she didn't have the energy signatures surrounding her that the staff was producing.

That was good news. "What do you want us to do?"

"If you can grab her and teleport, I'll take care of the rest," Billy replied. He had a holding area set to go.

"Alright. We're on it," Tommy said as he glanced over at Rocky. "It's morphin time!"

"Zeo ranger three, blue!"

"Zeo ranger five, red!"

* * *

The blue and red Zeo rangers were the first to arrive on the scene. They saw the monster and the Tengas protecting Kat. They wanted to get to Kat as fast as they could, but to get to her they would have to get through Zedd's goons first. As the two rangers rushed into battle, the remaining three rangers appeared on the battlefield ready for the fight. Tommy and Rocky saw them come in and ran straight toward the monster leaving them with the Tengas.

"You guys will never learn," Carri said as she easily through a few Tengas aside. They had become more of a warm up battle than an actual fight.

"If Rita and Zedd ever learned the meaning of the word defeat, we wouldn't still be doing this," Jason replied as he dealt with his own Tengas. It would be nice if they tucked their tail between their legs and ran away, but if they hadn't yet he doubted they would ever.

"But they haven't," Kim said as she threw a bird aside, "so we'll just have to teach them."

Kim continued to fight Tengas. At one point she looked around and realized that the Tengas around her were gone, and only Carri and Jason had them to deal with. Kim smiled as she called for her power weapon and ran at the monster.

Kat looked at the pink ranger in shock as she launched an attack that neither she nor the monster saw coming. Tommy saw Kat focused on Kim. He knew this could possibly be his only chance to get a clear shot at her. Tommy flipped over the top of the monster and grabbed Kat's arm.

"Let me go," she hissed, trying to figure out how she was going to get out of this.

"I don't think so," Tommy replied as he hit the button to teleport himself.

Jason and Carri finished pummeling the Tengas just in time to see Tommy and Kat disappear. "Tommy got Kat?" Carri asked, noticing the blue ranger nod out of the corner of her eyes. "She's going to be pissed but that's a good thing," she said more to herself than anything.

"I don't think that's such a good thing," Kim said as she pointed to the monster who was now growing to city wrecking size.

"Well there's only one thing we can do about that," Jason replied as they all shifted to call on their zords.

"We need Super Zeo Zord power now!" Rocky yelled. Upon his command four out of the five Super Zeo Zords came barreling towards them. The rangers jumped into their zords and turned to face the monster. "Time to send this guy back where he came from," Rocky said as the individual zords attacked.

The monster laughed. "You don't scare me," he said as he tried to fight off the individual zords.

While the fight was going on, Carri looked up to see the red Super Zeo Zord flying toward them. "It's about time you got here."

"Traffic," he replied laughing at his friend. He'd had to help get Kat situated before he could get back to the fight.

"Well whatever, I think we need to show this jerk what we're made of," Kim said, ready to finish him off and free their friend.

"Couldn't have put it better myself," Tommy replied as they begun the megazord transformation. When the transformation was complete, Tommy went to call for the Red Battlezord. He wanted to make short work of this monster because they had more pressing things to deal with.

The Red Battlezord attacked and as it did, the megazord brought out its saber to finish the job.

* * *

"What have you done?" Callisto growled as she entered the throne room.

"Made another worthless monster that fell to those blasted rangers," Zedd grumbled as he crumpled back in his seat.

Callisto glared at him, obviously seething. "I don't care about your monsters, it's Kat I'm worried about."

"She went on her own accord," Zedd told her. He wasn't Kat's keeper, he may have told her she could go but he was fairly certain she would have figured out how to go on her own if he didn't try and help her. "It appears as though she wasn't as good as you thought and the rangers got her."

Callisto was furious, and although she wanted to make a point with him she had better things to concern herself with so she simply hissed at him and took off.

"Do you think she's gone Zeddie?" Rita asked as she walked in. She was hoping she was, the goddess made her nervous.

"She probably went to search for Kat, or she's fled the galaxy again," Zedd replied. He was just glad she was gone. "Either way, she's out of our hair for a while."

* * *

Tommy took the rangers to the cave that Billy set up for them. No one, not good or evil, would be able to find this place unless they knew where it was first. As they walked in, they immediately noticed Kat chained to a wall.

"You will all pay for this!" Kat yelled as she glared at her captors.

Carri was the first to power down, and the others followed. "Katherine it's us. We're your friends, your family."

Kat looked at the yellow ranger curiously as the ranger walked up to her. "My friends? My family? Do you want to know what happened to my friends and family? You all destroyed them."

"Kat that's not true. You have to believe us. You've been brainwashed," Tommy told her as he powered down. She'd done this for him once before. He owed it to her to make sure he could help her back to the side of good.

"Brainwashed?" Kat said as she tried not to laugh. "Callisto found me. She nursed me back to health. She told me you killed everyone I loved and that I was lucky to be alive, but now I can see that I'm not so lucky anymore."

"Kat we're not going to kill you," Kim assured her, wondering exactly what Callisto had done to her. "We're your friends. We care about you. We know you're not this evil person that Callisto has made you out to be."

"Callisto, Lord Zedd and Rita are the only friends I have left," Kat snapped. She had to stand firm and believe that they were out right now trying to rescue her.

"They're evil. You're a good person. You've broken their spell once before, I know you can do it again," Rocky said trying to urge her to remember who she was. However it didn't look like she was buying it.

Kat turned away from them. "Stop it. I will not listen to this."

"You don't have a choice," Jason replied, feeling irritated that she was so stubborn. He supposed it ran in the family.

Carri thought for a moment, the same sense of irritation washing over her. They had to get her to realize who she was, and what better way than to flood her with memories. "Kat, remember when we were little and I used to come to visit you in Australia? We used to have so much fun. Your dad would grill out almost every night and we would spend hours surfing. Remember when we were like, twelve, and you met that really cute older boy on the beach? I spent the next week trying to hook you guys up. I even switched your surfboards out so he accidentally took yours and you had to confront him."

As Kat turned back towards the rangers they could have sworn that her eyes flashed blue for a second. Tommy squeezed Kim's hand and decided it was his turn to walk down memory lane with Kat. "Do you remember when we went to the ski resort and you spent that entire time trying to hook me up with Heather? In the end it was you and I who ended up dancing," he paused for a second and then continued, "Remember our first date? At Ernie's Hawaiian party? And how we spent the entire next day curled up together on the beach?"

"Think of all the fun we've had together. The group of us. The rangers. All the fun times you and Aisha had and you and Tanya. Remember your first birthday in the States? Remember the fair?" Rocky continued to try and flood her with memories.

"Remember when you saved my life at the Youth Center?" Kim asked trying to come up with something positive between them. It had been so difficult between them lately with everything that happened with Tommy. "When you truly showed us how good you were? When you proved you were worthy of being a power ranger?"

Kat was absorbing everything the others were saying. The others could see her eyes flash blue, and even see the blonde streaks that were starting to appear in her hair. Suddenly, Kat started to shake her head violently. "No, no, no!" she yelled as the black hair and eyes completely took over again. She swallowed hard fighting back the flood of emotions that was trying to come forward.

Jason frowned looked at his friends. "We should keep going. It was starting to work."

Before the others had a chance to respond, their communicators went off. The five rangers formed a circle as Tommy went to answer it. "What is it Billy?"

"Callisto's in the park and she's not to happy. You guys have to get down there right away."

"What about Kat?" Tommy asked, glancing up at her momentarily.

"Don't worry, she's not going anywhere. And as much as Callisto's been trying, she can't find her," Billy assured them.

"Right," Tommy said as he put his arm back down to his side. "Let's do it. It's morphin time!"

"Zeo ranger one, pink!"

"Zeo ranger two, yellow!"

"Zeo ranger three, blue!"

"Zeo ranger four, green!"

"Zeo ranger five, red!"

* * *

"Rangers it's nice of you to come," Callisto said as she was staring them down. "Now if you'll tell me where Kat is I might spare your pathetic lives."

"Let's see... how about no," Carri finished with a growl as she was the first to call on her weapons and mount an attack. The other rangers were quick to follow.

Callisto didn't hesitate to throw the Zeo's to the ground. "You've made a mistake rangers. That wasn't a request as much as a demand. Now tell me where she is," growled the goddess as she hurled the closest ranger high into the air.

Tommy's eyes grew wide as he saw Callisto lift Kim. "I think it was you who has made the mistake," he said as he created his Zeo Blaster, putting it in one hand while taking his Zeo Power Sword in the other. Tommy then ran at her full force.

Callisto snapped her attention towards the red ranger as she let Kim go. "Well if you are going to take out a team, you may as well start with its leader. Then the rest of them will topple behind him."

Callisto and Tommy started to fight. The other four rangers regrouped and stared at the duo. Carri was the first to speak. "Hey Calli you forgot one thing."

Upon hearing the name that she dreaded the most to be called, Callisto turned towards the group and formed a fireball with one hand. "And what's that?"

"That by taking on our leader you just took on our entire team," Kim pointed out as she gripped her weapons a little tighter, preparing for the battle ahead.

Jason laughed. "That is not going to end well for you." As he spoke the foursome attacked her, power weapons in hand.

Rocky and Carri were the first in line to take a shot at her and roll off, forming their blasters as they hit the ground. When Kim and Jason were clear they fired, hitting her and causing the fireball she had ready to throw to implode. "What are you going to do now Calli?" Rocky asked, intentionally irking the goddess.

Before she had a chance to retaliate, Jason and Kim hit her with blasters as well. "I think she should just give up," Kim answered Rocky's question for her.

"Never," Callisto hissed as her eyes darted around, trying to take note of the position of her enemies.

Tommy joined his friends and called for the Zeo Cannon. The teens wasted no time firing on her. "How about now?" he asked as the blast tore through her and sent her to the ground.

Callisto slowly got to her feet as her goddess powers healed her and she stared at them. It had become obvious that her plan had failed. She would not be able to locate Kat, not anytime soon anyway. By the time she found her, well those goodie rangers would probably have figured out how to rip her from evil's grasp. She decided it would be better for her to take off and regroup. "Until next time rangers," she said as she disappeared.

"We've been lucky with her so far," Rocky said with a frown. "One day...," he decided not to finish his thought as he knew that the others realized that their luck would one day run out.

"We're just lucky that she has low tolerance for her own failure," Tommy pointed out. She could wipe the floor with them, but typically if things weren't going her way she got angry and took off.

Kim smiled. "So I guess at this point she considers Kat a failure? Score one for the good guys."

Jason nodded in agreement. "Speaking of Kat, we need to get back."

Carri looked at her friends. "You guys go ahead. I have an idea, I'll be right behind you."

The others nodded as they went back to the cave which held their friend and fellow ranger.

* * *

Four multi-colored streaks flew into the cave that contained their friend. As they materialized and powered down, Kim spoke. "Do you think we should keep going with the memories?"

"Carri has an idea. Let's wait for her to get back," replied Tommy. The memories were helping but it wasn't enough. He hoped Carri had something stronger.

Kat looked at the group. For them to be back so quickly, she feared something had happened to Callisto. "Where is she?" Kat yelled, panicked that the one person who cared was gone.

"She?" repeated Jason, thinking briefly that she meant Carri.

Kat glared at him. "Callisto."

"We sent her off were she belongs," Rocky replied, hoping that would get her to forget about the goddess for now.

"You killed her?" Kat questioned almost yelling. She would have all their heads for this if it was the last thing she did.

Jason frowned. "We could only dream." And he did have that particular dream a few times.

"How dare you! She will be back. She will rescue me and she will make you pay for all that you have done to me!" Kat threatened. Callisto wouldn't give up on her. She would find her and together they would make this right.

"No Kat I think she cut her losses and you just happened to be one of them," Carri said as she teleported in.

"Losses? She would never do that to me," Kat replied as she held back tears that formed at the thought of the one person she knew cared for her abandoning her.

Tommy looked at her. "Maybe it's because she knows you're our friend and that we would be able to prove it to you."

"Liar!" Kat yelled. They were not her friends. She couldn't let them brainwash her.

Carri approached her with a book in hand. "We can sit here and discuss memories all you want, but you know what they say. A picture is worth a thousand words."

With that Carri opened a photo album and shoved it in Kat's face, forcing her to look at the pictures. The book was arranged chronologically. It was Kat's personal photo book that she started when she was little to showcase her best friends and boyfriends. The book started out with pictures of Carri and her as children. As Carri flipped the pages, Kat saw other old friends from Australia, as well as boys she had been interested in.

Tears started to form in Kat's eyes as she looked at the pictures. It was all so familiar. But how could it be? Callisto said these people were her enemies. Kat gasped as she saw the first picture she took in the states. There she was. With the people Callisto had called her enemies. Three of them were standing in front of her. The blue, pink and red rangers.

The others looked at Carri and Kat. They saw a stray tear fall down Kat's face. Her hair started showing streaks of blonde that came and went. They also noticed that the wall Kat was chained to and the roof over her head was starting to shake. The foursome took off for the other side of the cave. "Careful!" Rocky called to Carri who was still showing Kat pictures.

Carri continued to flip through the photo book. She didn't give a damn if the place collapsed around her, she was bringing Kat home. Finally she got to some newer pictures. As Kat looked at the images of the Zeo rangers and their friends, the tears flowed freely. The rock continued to shake as little pieces flew down. Jason, Kim and Tommy hit the ground, with Tommy protecting his girlfriend.

As Carri got to the end of the book, Kat saw the pictures of her and Chris. Memories came flowing back. Her hair and her eyes were rapidly switching colors back and forth. Bigger boulders started to fall.

"Carri move!" Rocky yelled as he started back toward his girlfriend.

Upon realizing that her job was done, Carri snapped the book shut and turned to run. A chunk of rock hit her in the shoulder blade and she fell to her knees. Rocky ran for her and helped her up, then pulled her protectively next to him as they ran to the other side of the cave and hit the ground beside the others.

Almost as rapidly as it had begun, the shaking of the walls and the roof stopped. The other rangers got to their feet. There, in front of them, Kat stood chained to the wall. Her blonde hair and blue eyes had returned. The rangers maneuvered around the fallen rocks to get to her.

"Kat!" Carri exclaimed as they unchained her. Carri threw her arms around her cousin, who was still crying. She winced as she did so, that boulder had hit her hard and she was going to pay. It was worth it to have her cousin back.

"Thank you," Kat whispered into her ear as she returned the hug.

"Come on, let's get back to the Power Chamber," Rocky said putting a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder. She immediately tensed up and he frowned. She was probably going to be feeling that for a few days. The others nodded and the group teleported out.

* * *

When they arrived in the Power Chamber, they immediately walked Kat over to a med bed. "What happened in that cave?" Jason asked once they finished getting Kat situated. Billy looked at his friends. "Whoever helped Kat become evil and gave her that staff was not too happy with you trying to remind her of who she was. There was a lot of evil energy flowing to the spot where she stood, which was what was causing the rocks to fall." As Billy spoke he started the scan on Kat.

"Well?" Tommy asked after a few moments, hoping she was in the clear.

"It appears as though there are no traces of the evil that took her over. Also she has no injuries from her little adventure," Billy replied, a smile on his face.

The rangers smiled. Kat smiled back as she looked at them. Her smile turned into a frown as she realized what happened the last time she was in the Power Chamber. "Oh God," she said as the tears started to come back. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"Kat calm down," Carri said as she stood by her. "What's wrong?"

"I am so sorry," Kat said between sobs. After the tears slowed down she spoke again. "I can't believe... Rocky I thought I'd killed you... and Alpha and Zordon... and what I did to the rest of you..."

"It's ok," Rocky replied. It was Callisto he blamed for his near death experience, not Kat. "I'm alive, they're alright. Nothing to be upset over."

"Rocky is right Katherine," Zordon stepped in. "You were under a very powerful evil spell. All of your actions were reversible, and although you did some terrible things, you should not hold yourself at fault for any of them." If the spell holding her to the side of evil was from who he thought it was from, she was very lucky to have come back to them without having done something that couldn't be undone.

"Yeah Kat, we're not mad at you," Jason said and the others echoed his sentiments.

"We're just glad to see you safe and sound," Kim added. Evil spells were spells, they weren't who they were and it was always forgive and forget.

Kat smiled as she wiped the tears out of her eyes. "Thank you guys," she said her voice almost a whisper. The others smiled and said you're welcome. Kat looked at her friends. "So now what?"

Kim grabbed her old friend's hand and looked her in the eye. "I know you only gave me the power because of the situation you were in. I couldn't, I wouldn't dream of keeping powers that didn't belong to me. These are yours, and whenever you want them back, just let me know." She loathed giving them up but it wasn't fair, she'd give them back to Kat when the pink ranger was ready.

Kat smiled at Kim's comment. She almost expected them to throw her off of the team. After all, Kim was with Tommy now and she was Jason and Carri's roommate. However they still wanted her and that made her feel both happy and a little sad. She took a moment to look at each and every one of her friends. She sighed heavily as she hopped down from the med bed and walked away from them.

"Kat what's wrong?" Tommy asked. He knew when she was hiding something important. Unlike her cousin who would just tell it like it is, she gave cues until he finally could convince her to spill.

"Wrong? Nothing's really wrong. It's just that I," Kat frowned not really knowing how to say what she wanted to. "Kim you can keep the powers."

The others looked at her with blank expressions on their faces. Kim was the first to speak. "Thank you for the gift, but are you sure this is what you want to do? I mean after the ordeal you just went through... maybe you need to take some time to think about it." It was hard to ask her to think about it when what she really wanted to do was jump for joy.

Kat smiled at her. "No. They're yours now. Besides, I've been... well you see...," Kat closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The only way to say it was, well, just to come right out with it. "I'm moving to North Carolina," Kat spat out quickly as she turned away from her friends and teleported home before she could give them a chance to respond.

"Kat wait!" Carri exclaimed but it was too late. She looked over at Billy. "Where did she go?"

Billy took a moment at the computer before he turned back to his friend. "She went home," he replied.

"I'm going to talk to her," Carri said as she teleported out before her friends could say a word.

The others glanced at each other. "I don't understand why Kat would all the sudden want to do that," Tommy said. She went to school here, she was a Power Ranger. What could possibly pull her away to North Carolina?

"You're right it doesn't make much sense," Jason replied. If it was family related surely Carri would have known. Outside of family, he couldn't think of very many last minute reasons to move.

"Well hopefully Carri can find some answers," Kim said. If anyone could get someone to spill it was the yellow ranger.

Rocky glanced down at his watch. "Guys I have to get going, I'm going to be late to work. Tell Carri I'll call her later to find out what's going on." Also to see how she was feeling since she ran out of there without asking for a scan on her shoulder. That bothered him a bit but there was nothing he could do about it.

Kim nodded, a silent agreement to pass the message along. "I think I'm going to give the two of them some time and head over there and find out myself."

Rocky teleported out. Tommy and Jason looked at each other. "How about it bro? Wanna hit the mats?" Jason asked. It had been a crazy few days and he wanted to get some stress out.

"That sounds like a good idea," Tommy said. The boys teleported out and Kim followed them to pass the time.

* * *

Carri teleported to her living room and saw Kat sitting on the couch. Kat stood up to face her cousin when she saw her come in. She rubbed her eyes to try and hide the fact that she'd been crying. Carri crossed her arms and glared at her. "Kat I don't, hell we don't understand what's going on."

Kat frowned. She didn't know what more she had to explain. "I thought I was pretty clear. I'm moving to North Carolina. Kim's going to take my place."

Carri threw her arms up in the air, a stabbing pain shooting through the side that was injured. She did her best to ignore it and continue. "That's the part that's not clear. You're moving to North Carolina."

"What do I have left here that should make me want to stay?" Kat asked, looking her cousin in the eyes.

"You have us. Your friends. You had the team until you removed yourself from it." What the hell kind of question was that? Her entire life was here – her friends, family, school, the rangers – all in southern California.

"I used to have all that," Kat snapped at her. Carri looked surprised that her cousin would snap like that. Kat even surprised herself as tears started to form. "Ever since Kim came back and you two started hanging out, and she got back together with Tommy I haven't had any of that."

"Let's not forget that you broke up with Tommy long before Kim came back into the picture. And yes, Kim and I have become close lately and you and I have drifted, but that's not because I haven't tried to keep us together. So don't blame Kim." Kim was worried about how Kat would react when she started dating Tommy. She assured her that Kat and Tommy were in the past, that she wouldn't hold anything against her. Now she was funneling everything against her.

"I'm not blaming Kim," Kat spat out as the tears started to flow. She didn't mean for it to come out that way, it's just the honest truth that things changed after Kim came back but Kim wasn't the cause. "I never belonged to this stupid team in the first place."

"How dare you say that!" Carri exclaimed as her own tears started to form. She batted them back with irritation before they went anywhere. "You've been with this team for a long time and we care about you."

"Do you know why I was made a part of the team? The same reason you were. I knew their secret. The only difference is, you became best friends with them and they accepted you. Tanya was my only best friend on the team. That became evident when I left Tommy and none of you wanted anything to do with me. So now you have the perfect team. You're all each other's best friends. So congratulations." She never went on any outings with the team anymore and sometimes she felt like they didn't even care if she went or not.

A few stray tears started to flow down Carri's cheeks as she responded. "How dare you! You were my best friend. You were a part of our team. Until Chris came into the picture. Until you didn't want anything to do with us." As she finished she wiped the tears away and tried to will them back. Kat was telling her screw you, she wasn't going to cry over it.

"It doesn't matter anymore anyway. I'm moving to North Carolina and that's final."

Any hint of tears vanished as Carri simply got agitated and rolled her eyes. "Even if you've lost all respect for us, the rangers, your friends, what about Chris? You just gonna leave him here too?"

"Chris got a scholarship to Chapel Hill he's thinking about accepting. The day I disappeared I got a letter in the mail saying I'd been accepted," Kat replied, her words coming out more calmly than she thought they would.

The yellow rangers jaw dropped as she put this whole thing together. "Oh God that's what this is all about? You following your boyfriend of nine months to the other side of the country?"

Kat glared at her. "Don't tell me you can look me in the eye and honestly say that you wouldn't follow Rocky if he transferred to the other side of the country."

"That's different."

"Yeah, right." They were the men they loved, how that was different was beyond her. "I'd love to know your crazy logic for that."

Rocky was actually a good guy for one, but she wasn't going to go there, not now anyway. "We've been together for almost two years now and we can honestly say we love each other. However even if he transferred to the other side of the country I would still have other things to consider. Like my friends. My responsibilities. The rangers."

"I think we've covered that, I've left my powers in quite competent hands. I never see my so called friends anymore anyway. And how can you say that because we haven't been together as long as you two have that we can't say we love each other."

"Because to love each other you have to truly know each other. And can you say that?" Nine months was hardly enough time to know someone, especially when you are slipping meetings in between dozens of other things.

"We know everything about each other." Kat said, her tone almost challenging as she crossed her arms.

"Yes I'm sure between your dance classes, school, being separate during vacations, time spent saving the world, you know each other. Speaking of saving the world, I guess that means you broke Zordon's orders and told him you were a power ranger." She hoped she was making a point here and that Kat wouldn't say she actually did tell him.

"I would never tell him. Even if I did, it would be no different that Jason telling Emily. Oh wait, yes it would, since you guys like Emily." It hurt to know that Jason could tell his non ranger girlfriend. The others trusted her with that secret, she didn't know if they'd give Chris the same.

"First of, Emily has made an effort to get to know us. Not once has Chris called any of us and invited us somewhere. Second, Jason has been with Emily for over a year. She knew strange things were happening. Besides the only reason I busted my secret was because I didn't want to die. I wouldn't be here talking to you now if I had kept my mouth shut."

"I wish you weren't!" Kat yelled, gasping a bit after she spoke and putting her hand to her mouth. She saw the look of horror come across her cousin's face. Kat didn't mean to say that. She was just getting so frustrated but it was too late to take it back now.

Carri slowly curled her fingers into a ball as she crossed her arms and glared at her cousin. "Fine if you want it that way I'll leave. But remember this. You don't have to go. Whether or not you want to admit it you have friends here. We still care about you. If we didn't care about you we wouldn't have worked so hard to make you good again. And you're still my cousin and I still love you. So think about that before you commit to the other side of the country." With that, Carri stormed out the front door slamming it behind her. Tears started to fall and for once she ignored them as she searched for her keys and took off.

Kat slouched down on the couch as she started crying as well. She never wanted to argue with Carri like that. It's just everything, all the emotions that had been bottled up, all came pouring out at one time. She should have talked to them before, told them how she felt. Instead she let it come out like this. She leaned her head back on a couch pillow as the tears continued to flow freely.

* * *

Callisto arrived at the Dark Fortress and stood in front of Astronema. The princess of evil glanced over at the woman standing in front of her. "He's angry you know." Callisto said nothing and Astronema took that as her cue to continue talking. "When Dark Specter himself helps you make someone evil, gives you a staff more powerful than you can imagine, well he expects results."

"He obviously didn't plan for the rest of those power brats. It's not my fault. I warned him not to underestimate descendants of Xena or Hercules," Callisto replied. They had outsmarted even the monarch of all evil this time.

"Don't be so quick to throw the blame to Dark Specter," she quickly replied as she gave her a warning glance. Not that she would report her friend to Dark Specter, but she couldn't say the same for everyone on her ship.

Callisto laughed. "Please I'm not afraid of him."

Astronema sighed and turned away from the goddess for a moment before she spoke again. "You're just lucky that he has future interests on Earth. Otherwise he would have considered this a complete waste of time. And he may not be able to kill you, but trust me he can make your eternity a living hell."

Callisto didn't reply. She knew Astronema was right, she just wasn't about to admit it. "So now what?"

"Now I believe you have a certain space ranger you promised me," Astronema reminded her. That had been the deal. She arranged the meeting with Dark Specter, and in return Callisto would bring her the carcass of the ranger.

"Oh yes. I did, didn't I?" Callisto replied with a smile on her face as she went back to planning ranger destruction. Not the ranger she would like, but a ranger was a ranger and she'd enjoy her task.

* * *

Kim walked into the Hillard household. She had given them almost an hour to talk, she hoped that was enough time. She saw Kat curled up on the couch and she went over and sat next to her. "Hey Kat," she said softly. It was obvious that she was upset and she was trying to be a little delicate.

Kat didn't reply as she turned away from her friend. She thought about it. Carri had probably told Kim what had happened and now Kim was here to beg her to stay. She didn't want to talk about it, not again. She didn't want to hurt anyone else's feelings. "I don't have anything else to say."

"Well if you want to talk I'm here," Kim replied. She had no clue what was said between the two cousins but something obviously went down. Kat seemed curled up within herself.

Kat took a deep breath as the tears started to come back. "I don't want to talk. I can't... I don't want to hurt you too. I don't want to make you all hate me."

"We don't hate you," Kim said confused at her friend's reaction. Thinking that something had gone down might be a bit of an understatement.

"Carri does," Kat replied as she started to sob again. She couldn't believe what they said. That wasn't her. She was hurt and angry and getting over the whirlwind of being Callisto's pawn. She loved her cousin, they had been best friends, she never meant for any of that to happen.

Kim leaned over and put a reassuring hand on her back. "I'm sure she doesn't hate you."

Kat looked at her. Maybe she hadn't talked to her cousin. "You don't have to lie to me I'm sure she told you how she feels."

"I haven't spoken to her," Kim replied as she glanced around the house, hoping to see the yellow ranger peeking out from somewhere. "Is she here? Maybe we can all talk and hang out and"

"I haven't seen her since she stormed off," Kat interrupted her friend. Then Kat stood up and started to walk up the stairs, brushing Kim's arm away as she went. She paused on the bottom step and turned back toward Kim. "I'm sorry I just... I just can't deal right now." Then she walked up the stairs wiping tears out of her eyes as she went. She walked into her room and shut the door behind her, flopping on her bed and burring her head in her pillow. Maybe she should talk about it, maybe she should tell Kim how she felt. However she had already made one friend hate her, she wasn't going to make any more.

Kim sat on the couch and watched her friend walk away. She frowned as she reached for her phone and dialed Carri's number. There was no answer. She tried once more and then left a message hoping to hear back from her. She decided to give Tommy a call. Maybe he would run up to L.A. with her, maybe she could find her friend there.

* * *

Rocky finished filing out some papers. It had been a late night. There was a lot more action at the beach than he had wanted to see. Especially with all that had happened to him in the past few days not to mention all that happened to the team.

He sighed as he thought about what had happened. There was everything with Kat, him almost dying and now his girlfriend was MIA. Kim called him and said she couldn't find her anywhere. She wasn't picking up the phone. That wasn't like Carri. Kim had said from what she could tell, it looked like Kat had Carri had been in a huge fight. He wouldn't be surprised if she was dealing in her own way. Hopefully her own nondestructive way.

He sat there thinking about it all until a voice ripped him out of his thoughts. "You ok man?" Cody Madison, his closest friend at work asked.

"Just a rough few days, that's all," Rocky replied as he looked up from his work.

"School? Friends? Relationships?" Cody pried. It wasn't really any of his business, he was just bored and if Rocky would spill he'd take it.

"Not school. I guess you could say friends. Kinda relationship."

Cody made a face. "Trouble?" He thought the duo was solid.

"Not with me and her," Rocky answered quickly. That wasn't a rumor he wanted started. "Really with her and some other friends. Honestly I don't know but I think shit hit the fan while I was working if you know what I mean."

"Yeah," Cody replied with a nod. "I'm out. You going to lock up?"

Rocky nodded as he watched as Cody leave. He quickly finished what he was doing. He looked down at his watch and sighed. It was much later than he originally thought. Rocky turned out all the lights and walked out the door of the main building. He locked the door and gave it a quick tug to make sure the lock had actually caught. They had experienced problems with it in the past and he didn't want to be the guy responsible for letting people trash the place at night.

Rocky stretched his arms as he walked through the parking lot. His car was parked near the main building. He unlocked the doors and climbed in. As he did, he noticed a car far off in the distance. He chuckled. It was probably a young couple trying to enjoy the water at night. He always hated seeing people there at night though because nobody was there to protect them. Then again they knew that. It was swim at your own risk that late.

The blue ranger cranked his car up and put it in reverse. He drove through the parking lot. As he got closer to the exit, he got closer to the car in question. He started to get a sense of familiarity. Once he was practically on top of it and shined his headlights on it, he knew why.

Rocky parked his car beside the familiar yellow Mustang. He got out and smiled. He should have known he would have found her here. She couldn't have been here too long, he was certain he would have noticed before. He quickly walked down the beach and saw her sitting at the water's edge. He went down and stood behind her.

"Hey," he said, catching her attention.

Carri was startled by her visitor for a moment, but she recognized the voice. "Hey," she replied, not bothering to turn around and acknowledge him.

Rocky walked over and stood next to her. "This seat taken?" he asked smiling at her.

She gestured to the ground beside her. "Help yourself."

He sat down and turned to her. She was obviously upset. It must have been one hell of a fight for her to have gotten this shaken up. "Kim's been worried about you. I've been worried about you."

"I'm sorry I didn't answer anyone's calls. I just couldn't, ya know? I needed some time." She needed to calm down, try not to hit something, and process.

"Time to what?" Rocky asked putting his arm around her. He felt her tense and he glanced down at her shoulder, frowning at the ugly purple bruise that was poking out over the neckline of her shirt.

"Think," she replied. She paused for a moment. "Kat and I got into a fight." She was fairly certain he knew that. Her friends weren't stupid, they would have checked for her at the house first.

"I'm sorry," he said, dropping his arm around her waist and giving it a squeeze. She didn't immediately reply. He wasn't sure if she wanted to talk about it but he had to ask. "About what?"

She sighed as she answered. "Let's see it started with her being replaced by Kim. But that was ok with her, because us five were best of friends and she didn't belong because she wasn't friends with us anyway. That hurt to hear."

Carri paused at took a deep breath. She didn't want to start crying again. She told herself she was through. "Then she told me that her reason for going to Chapel Hill was to follow Chris. I can't believe that she would say she's in love with him after nine months. That she would pick him over her friends."

"Nothing's set in stone is it?" Rocky asked. She shook her head no. "Maybe this will make her realize that we are her friends and we do care. Maybe she will change her mind."

Carri simply shook her head. It was nice thought but her cousin probably already had her bags packed with one foot out the door now. "I doubt it. Besides it doesn't matter. That didn't hurt as much as when she wished me dead."

"Carri I'm sure she didn't say that," Rocky said softly. They may have been bickering over everything but there was no way she'd wish Carri dead.

"We were talking about Emily, comparing her to Chris. I think she's jealous because Emily knows our secret. I told her if she didn't know I wouldn't be standing in front of her. She told me she wished I wasn't." Kat knew what that meant. The alternative to not being there was her dying on the beach. From the look on Kat's face she knew that was exactly what she meant when she said it.

Rocky pulled his girlfriend closer. "I'm sure she didn't mean that."

"Maybe she did. Maybe she wants us all to hate her so she can leave without feeling bad. All I know is that she hurt my feelings. I never thought my cousin, my friend would say those kind of things," Carri replied as she curled up against Rocky. She didn't like to cling to anybody else for support. At the same time, she was really glad he was there for her to lean into.

Rocky felt her entire body shake as she took a deep breath. The conversation had really gotten to her, he didn't need her to say anything for him to know that. "It will be ok," he replied as he held her closely with one hand and took the other and ran it through her hair. He continued to hold her there quietly watching the water until she dozed off. Then he helped her up and followed her back to her home. Not in Angel Grove, he wouldn't dare suggest she go there, but back to her apartment in L.A.

* * *

Kat awoke at one in the morning. She had cried herself to sleep earlier in the day. She was wide awake now. She didn't feel much better though. She got off the bed and walked by the dresser. She noticed the letter of acceptance to Chapel Hill sitting there. Kat picked it up and glanced at it. It was hard to believe that something she knew was so right was causing her so much heartbreak. She let go of the letter and watched it flutter back down to the surface of the dresser.

The former pink ranger opened her room door and looked around. The doors to Carri's bedroom and the guestroom were wide open. Both girls were probably at the apartment, but that was to be expected. She didn't even want to hang around herself at the moment. She sighed as she leaned against the hallway wall. She felt like a mess. She probably looked like one too. Kat walked into the bathroom and washed her face, rinsing away all the dried tears. She took one long look at herself.

She wasn't sure what to make of herself anymore. She didn't know who she was anymore. Her senior year in high school it was so simple. She was an A student. She taught dance full time. She participated in so many school committees - social, government, leadership, yearbook - you name it she was on it. She was Tommy's girlfriend. She was Carri's best friend. She was the Pink Ranger. Through that she had become friends with Rocky, Jason and Adam. Most importantly, she was happy.

So where had everything gone wrong? Where had Kat gone? She still got decent grades, although her GPA wasn't nearly as high as it was in high school. She didn't teach dance full time anymore. She couldn't because of school, she only taught on Saturdays. She wasn't involved at USC at all. She missed that, the after school meetings and the planning for things for your fellow students. As far as Tommy and Carri, and even being the pink ranger goes, she had messed all that up. Not Kim, although Kim made an easy out – but it was Kat who dumped Tommy and Kat who avoided hanging out with Carri afterwards, always scared her cousin was silently judging her. Plus she was the one who gave Kim her powers and told her that she didn't want them back.

What about the rest of the team? She couldn't blame anyone but herself. She was right about one thing. She and Carri were both so easily accepted into the group because of what they knew. However Carri became best friends with the group and she never felt like she had that. They were never ever mean to her, but she just wasn't as close with them. Carri made friends with them so easily because she tried. She was always talking to them, hanging out with them. She joined the group and formed a relationship with Rocky, and immediately befriended Tommy and Adam. When Jason came back, those two became best of friends telling each other everything. Then with Kim, well, they were quickly joined at the hip. Kat felt like she didn't try hard enough. They did accept her because of what she knew so she let it stand at that. She never felt like she had to work for friendships because she was automatically their friend by being a ranger. Kat sighed. When she was a ranger, when she was in high school, she never thought anything of it. She considered them friends because they always saw each other, always hung out together. Now she knew she should have tried harder, that if she did she wouldn't be in the position she felt she was in now.

What position was that exactly? Unhappy. Well she couldn't say she was completely unhappy. She was Chris's girlfriend and she did love him, but she wanted to fix some other things in her life. She wanted to be close to Carri again. Maybe she could even become good friends with Kim. She wanted to at least be friends with the others. She didn't want to be a power ranger. That took up so much time. Without rangering, she could get back to her old activities. Could that even happen now? After everything they've been through and after everything that has gone on, would she be able to get things close to where they were?

What about Chris and Chapel Hill? He hasn't accepted yet, although she suspected he would, especially when she tells him that she got accepted to the school. Would she follow him? She knew the answer. She almost certainly would. What would be left for her here if she didn't? Friendships she may not be able to mend? Friendships that she wasn't sure were truly there in the first place. Well Carri's was. She had been her best friend as far back as she could remember. Until now. Until they drifted apart this year.

Kat continued to look at herself in the mirror. She needed to think. She picked up her hairbrush and ran it through her blonde hair, pulling it up into a ponytail. She turned and exited the bathroom, heading down the stairs and out the front door. Kat took the brisk walk to Angel Grove Park. It was always a place where she felt calm, and she really needed that at the moment. Kat took a stroll down to the lake and sat down, leaning her back against an old tree.

She looked out over the water. She smiled as she took a deep breath, enjoying the fresh air. Kat closed her eyes and leaned her head back. Where had it all gone wrong? Not just this - everything. She put her hand down on the grass, on top of a stone. She picked it up and started to rub it with her fingers. It was perfectly smooth, it felt like it had been in the water for ages.

She sighed as she held it and went back to her train of thought. Maybe it was the Power Rangers themselves. Her life was normal until she got mixed up with them. "I wish the power rangers never existed," she said aloud as she clutched the stone. She frowned. Maybe that wasn't the problem. After all, she wouldn't even know about the power rangers if she had never come to Angel Grove, and Carri would still be her best friend.

"I wish we had never moved to this stupid town to begin with," she whispered with a sigh clutching the stone even tighter. She opened her eyes and looked down at the stone. She laughed as she realized what she was doing. It was something her father showed her when she was little. Find the perfect stone and make a wish, and then toss it into the water. Then if you were pure of heart, the wish would come true. She didn't know where the story came from, although she suspected it was an older fairytale from his parents, who were prone to storytelling. She'd made a lot of wishes when she was younger, some of them coming true while others not. Of course that had everything to do with chance and nothing to do with throwing a stone. However for old times' sake, she took the stone in her hand and reached her arm back, tossing it into the water.

She couldn't see the strange glow it gave off as it fell below the water's surface. She gave the silly childhood tradition not another thought as she frowned and leaned her head back against the tree. She closed her eyes once again as a million thoughts filled her head. Finally she allowed herself to fall back asleep, putting an end to this horrible day.


End file.
